Like many chronic lower back pain sufferers, Anthony Sartoris, 47, of Coal City, Illinois, endured his condition as long as he could. More than 14 years ago, Anthony – having had no previous symptoms – unexpectedly found that he was unable to physically move after pulling weeds in the garden.

Anthony sought medical attention from his family doctor and was prescribed non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), a treatment that has pain-relieving (analgesic) effects and reduces inflammation when used over a period of time. While this treatment helped to relieve the pain, the frequency with which Anthony experienced severe pain increased, and without an incredible amount of exertion. Activities as simple as turning around to speak with his wife left Anthony immobile and in pain.

Anthony was eventually referred to a spine surgeon. The surgeon was hesitant about doing a spinal fusion surgery and referred Anthony to Dr. Ira Goodman, of Pain Specialists of Greater Chicago. “The surgeon thought I was too young for such an invasive procedure. For me, I didn’t want to have the fusion surgery because it meant I would have to take too much time off from our family.”

Initially Dr. Goodman started Anthony on steroid injections to reduce inflammation which provided months of relief. However, over time, those too stopped working. A discography showed that Anthony had tears in the L4 and L5 discs. This was causing Anthony shooting pains in his legs, stiffness, difficulty sitting and standing.

Dr. Goodman then recommended that Anthony consider the INTRADISCAL ELECTROTHERMAL^◊ Therapy (IDET^◊), a minimally invasive outpatient procedure for patients suffering from chronic disc-related lower back pain that delivers controlled levels of thermal heat to the affected disc. An estimated 7,000 to 10,000 IDET^◊ procedures are performed annually in the U.S. by pain management specialists, interventional radiologists and spine surgeons.

For Anthony, the IDET^◊ procedure took a little more than an hour and he was given a local anesthetic and mild sedation to help to reduce discomfort. Using X-ray images as a guide, Dr. Goodman inserted a hollow needle into each of the lumbar discs that were causing the pain. A SPINECATH^◊ catheter (or electrothermal heating wire) was then passed through the needle and positioned along the annulus (the inner wall of the disc), and the catheter was slowly heated to 90 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes. The heat contracted and thickened the collagen fibers along the disc wall, potentially closing the cracks and tears and cauterizing the nerve endings that caused the pain.

“When I went to bed after the procedure, I assumed I would be sore the next day but when I woke up, I almost forgot that I had anything done to my back.”

Today, Anthony is able to enjoy all the activities that he hadn’t been able to do for so long. He exercises six days a week, plays tennis with his son, does moderate weight training and runs five miles at a time. As president of his family’s business he was recently able to participate in the opening of a new store, something he would not have been able to do before the IDET^◊ procedure.

Anthony takes care to not re-injure himself but the world is a different place without the chronic and constant lower back pain he used to tolerate. “I feel like I got my life back.”