Efficacy of an ethyl alcohol gel in symptomatic disc herniation

Percutaneous intradiscal injection of radiopaque gelified ethanol: short- and long-term functional outcome and complication rate in a consecutive series of patients with lumbar disc herniation

“…DiscoGel is a percutaneous procedure that, by producing shrinkage of the disc, is thought to relieve pain in patients with symptomatic disc herniation. 3,13 In our study, we verified, in a quite large population of patients (n = 94), that DiscoGel chemonucleolysis is an effective treatment, both in the short and long term, in patients with single, small or medium-sized LDH in whom conservative treatments have failed.…”

“…Low back pain (LBP) is a common disorder with significant impact on public health. [1][2][3] Lumbar disc herniation (LDH) is a very frequent cause of LBP and is often associated with radicular pains (RPs), due to mechanical compression on the nerve roots together with immunologic and inflammatory changes. 4,5 Although, over the years, several treatments have been proposed, including different minimally invasive Percutaneous intradiscal injection of radiopaque gelified ethanol: shortand long-term functional outcome and complication rate in a consecutive series of patients with lumbar disc herniation 1 Neurosurgery Department, AOU 'Mater Domini' − Università degli Studi 'Magna Greacia' di Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy 2 Neuroradiology Department, AOU 'Mater Domini' − Università degli Studi 'Magna Greacia' di Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy and percutaneous techniques; among these, microdiscectomy (MD) still remains the gold standard of treatment in symptomatic LBP, when conservative treatment has failed.…”

“…12 Moreover, MD carries the risks of a general anaesthesia, which involves high cost, and re-operation rates ranging between 4-10%. 3,12 For these reasons, over the past two decades, several minimally invasive percutaneous techniques have been proposed as alternative treatments to MD. Among these, percutaneous intradiscal injection of radiopaque gelified ethanol (RGE) DiscoGel ® has emerged as an effective alternative to MD in selected patients.…”

Overview on Percutaneous Therapies of Disc Diseases

“…Radiopaque gelified ethanol intradiscal administration represents an emerging minimally invasive procedure in the management of disc pathology; the effect of ethanol on biological tissues has long been known and used by many interventionists during their procedures. The adjunction of ethyl-cellulose and tungsten provides more viscosity (to reduce diffusivity) and radiopacity, respectively, to the compound [34,35].…”

“…The solution produces local necrosis within the nucleus pulposus resulting in dehydration and mechanical retraction of the bulging disc [36]. Additionally, the gelified compound has hydrophilic properties, able to generate fluid inflow from the periphery toward the core of the nucleus pulposus; In addition, the deposition and precipitation of the gel particles result in a “prosthesis” effect at the injection site [34]. A total amount of 0.8mL is usually sufficient for the treatment of a single lumbar herniated disc.…”