Prices for a rhizotomyin Germany are normally 75% below the cost of a disc relacement therapy in the US and are individually quoted. They include all medical expenses, the hospital stay, surgeon's fees, operation room fees, anesthesia, anesthesiologist's fees, medicine, nursing, semi-private room, meals, pre-op diagnosis, local phone and English TV.
Rhizotomy: Definition
Rhizotomy is a neurosurgery that selectively severs problematic nerve roots (usually with radiofrequency heat) in the spinal cord, most often to relieve the symptoms of neuromuscular conditions such as spastic diplegia and other forms of spastic cerebral palsy. A rhizotomy may also be considered for a person suffering from severe back pain associated with the facet joints.
Rhizotomy: How is it done?
The sensory nerve roots are first separated from the motor ones. Identification of the nerve fibers to be cut is then made by means of electrical stimulation. Sensory nerve fibres in the spinal cord are identified, then selectively cut. Those which generate unusual electrical activity are considered to be those which contribute to producing too pain, and are cut, while the remaining routes carrying the correct messages remain intact.
Rhizotomy: When is it done?
Lower back pain may arise from degenerative changes in the posterior joints of the lumbar spine. Pain impulses from these joints can be interrupted by coagulating this nerve with a radiofrequency wave, the probe having been placed in the area of the nerve percutaneously
Rhizotomy: Is it successful?
In one study where percutaneous lumbar rhizolysis or facet rhizotomy was carried out under local anesthesia on an outpatient basis in 82 patients, most of whom had multiple level rhizolysis. Rhizolysis was successful in 67% of patients with mechanical low back pain without evidence of disc herniation and nerve-root compression or psychogenic pain, who had not previously undergone an operation for relief of the pain.