This article is from Xinhua’s report on interventional therapy. Website: Zou Zhenyu, Department of Medical Imaging, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, Changji Branch http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2004-05/25/content_1489071.htm Xinhua, May 25 (Wang Min) – A 23-year-old male patient, who could not walk due to pain in his back and legs, was brought to the hospital by his family. A 23-year-old male patient, who was brought into the hospital with the help of his family, walked out of the door of Shanghai Ruijin Hospital three weeks later with a happy face after being treated with a new technology called “CT-guided percutaneous puncture temperature-controlled thermal wave repair of lumbar disc”. He is the 16th patient with lumbar disc herniation successfully cured by this new technology in China. Back and leg pain is one of the diseases that affect people’s life and work. According to statistics, about 80% of people have at least one experience of low back pain in their lifetime, and the age of onset is mostly young adults. Among the causes of low back pain, lumbar disc herniation and lumbar spinal stenosis are the most common. Most patients first present with low back pain, which sometimes affects the buttocks, radiating from the lower back to the buttocks, the back of the thigh, the outer calf, and up to the back of the foot. The radiating pain is aggravated by coughing and straining to defecate. In severe cases, a large herniated disc can compress the cauda equina nerve, causing incontinence and numbness in the saddle area. For the treatment of this common disease, the medical profession has conducted long time research and explored a variety of treatment methods, and since 1997, CT-guided percutaneous puncture temperature-controlled thermal wave repair technology for lumbar discs has been carried out in the U.S., and Shanghai Ruijin Hospital took the lead in introducing this technology this year. The treatment principle is: the catheter enters the intervertebral disc through the puncture needle, and radiofrequency is given to heat the catheter, which rearranges the molecular structure of collagen on the inner side of the intervertebral disc fibrous ring through heat energy, and coagulates the activated nerve tissue at the same time, without destroying the disc structure and restoring the normal function. During the treatment, the patient lies prone on a CT examination bed, and under the surveillance of the CT and fluoroscopy machine, a match-stem-thick puncture needle is inserted into the disc from the back, and then a catheter is inserted into the disc by threading a needle inside the puncture, turning on the power and heating the catheter. The entire procedure takes only 30 minutes. The patient’s pain was significantly reduced by the second day of surgery, and the positive signs gradually disappeared after a few days, and he could try to walk. (End)