Efficacy of Tilt-Angle and Low-Dose CT Scan Guidance in Percutaneous plasma Radiofrequency Treatment for Lumbar 5-Sacrum 1 Disc Herniation

Abstract

Leichao Gu,1,* Wei Liu,2,* Ruxiang Wang,1 Ling Ma1 1Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Affiliated Hospital of Jiaxing University, Jiaxing, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Anesthesiology, Daqing Longnan Hospital, Daqing, 163001, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Ling Ma, Email [email protected]: To investigate the application effect of tilt-angle low-dose ComputedTomography (CT) scanning guidance technology in the plasma radiofrequency treatment of lumbar 5-sacrum 1 (L5-S1) intervertebral disc herniation.Methods: A total of 43 patients with L5-S1 disc herniation were included in this study and categorized into vertical-angle-guided CT (Group A, n = 21) and tilt-angle-guided CT (Group B, n = 22) groups. Percutaneous plasma L5-S1 disc radiofrequency treatment was administered. The total number of punctures and scans, operation times, and Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) pain scores (preprocedure and 3 and 30 days postprocedure) were documented.Results: Compared with Group A, punctures and scans were fewer in Group B, and the differences were statistically significant (P = 0.0001). Moreover, the CT scan-guided total surgery time was significantly shorter in Group B than in Group A (P = 0.0001). In addition, the NRS score exhibited a statistically significant difference among preprocedure (T0), 3 day postprocedure (T1), and 30 days (T2) in Groups A (P 0.05).Conclusion: The tilt-angle low-dose CT scanning technique for L5-S1 disc herniation offers the advantages of high efficiency, low damage, and low radiation, and its clinical application is recommended.Plain Language Summary: CT-guided plasma surgery for intervertebral discs has gradually shown its importance in clinical practice. We found that the protrusion of the intervertebral disc in the lumbar 5/sacral 1 region often leads to difficulty in puncture due to its anatomical position. By adjusting the tilt angle of the CT, we increase the success rate of puncture and significantly reduce the radiation exposure to patients. The tilt-angle low-dose CT scanning technique for L5-S1 disc herniation offers the advantages of high efficiency, low damage, and low radiation. It can avoid surgical failures caused by puncture difficulties and also reduce patient exposure to radiation, strengthen awareness of patient protection during treatment.Keywords: plasma radiofrequency therapy, lumbar disc herniation, CT-guided

Keywords

• plasma radiofrequency therapy
• lumbar disc herniation
• ct-guided