Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29423885›Full record

Trial reportEuropean spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society2018

Intraosseous basivertebral nerve ablation for the treatment of chronic low back pain: a prospective randomized double-blind sham-controlled multi-center study.

Jeffrey S Fischgrund, A Rhyne, J Franke, R Sasso, S Kitchel, H Bae, C Yeung, E Truumees, M Schaufele, P Yuan and 5 more

Registry-linked trialOpen access · hybridAbstract readMulticenter StudyRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05660512 (A Prospective Single Arm Cohort Study of Intraosseous Basivertebral Nerve Ablation), which is not on this map. Cited by 81 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
81citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
6.1field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT05660512 active not recruitingnot on this mapstarted 2020, after this paper: background citation

A Prospective Single Arm Cohort Study of Intraosseous Basivertebral Nerve Ablation

TypeobservationalSponsorUniversity of UtahRan2020 to 2026Enrolled150ConditionsLow Back PainArmsIntracept Procedure
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

81 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 121 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Trial
  6. Long-term outcomes following intraosseous basivertebral nerve ablation for the treatment of chronic low back pain: 5-year treatment arm results from a prospective randomized double-blind sham-controlled multi-center study.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2020
    Trial
  7. A prospective, open-label, single-arm, multi-center study of intraosseous basivertebral nerve ablation for the treatment of chronic low back pain.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2019
    Trial
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. Review
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Intervertebral disc degeneration.Nature reviews. Disease primers · 2026
    Review
  19. Article
  20. Stress-response exhaustion in intervertebral disc degeneration.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2026
    Review

21 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

15 authors at 15 institutions in 2 countries.

Jeffrey S FischgrundDepartment of Orthopedic Surgery, Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine, 3535 West 13 Mile Road, Suite 744, Royal Oak, MI, 48073, USA. jsfischgrund37@gmail.com.
A RhyneOrtho Carolina Spine Center, Charlotte, USA.
J FrankeDepartment of Orthopedics-Spine and Pediatric Orthopedics, Klinikum Magdeburg GmbH, Magdeburg, Germany.
R SassoDepartment of Orthopedic Surgery, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, USA.
S KitchelNeuroSpine Institute, Eugene, USA.
H BaeDepartment of Surgery, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, USA.
C YeungDesert Institute for Spine Care, Phoenix, USA.
E TruumeesSeton Spine and Scoliosis Center, Seton Medical Center, Brackenridge University Hospital, Austin, USA.
M SchaufelePain Solutions Treatment Centers, Marietta, USA.
P YuanLong Beach Memorial Medical Center, Long Beach, USA.
P VajkoczyDepartment of Neurosurgery, Charité-Universitaetsmedizin Berlin, Campus Virchow Medical Center, Berlin, Germany.
M DePalmaVirginia iSpine Physicians, Richmond, USA.
D G AndersonDepartments of Orthopaedic and Neurological Surgery, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, USA.
L ThibodeauMaine Spine Surgery, Portland, USA.
B MeyerDirektor der Neurochirurgischen Klinik und Poliklinik, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Munich, Germany.
Carolina Neurosurgery and Spine Associates · USCedars-Sinai Medical Center · USCharité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin · DEDesert Institute For Spine Care · USIndiana University School of MedicineKlinikum Magdeburg · DEKlinikum rechts der Isar · DELong Beach Memorial Medical Center · USMaine Medical Center · USNeuroSpine Institute · USOakland University · USPain Management Centers Of America · USThomas Jefferson University · USUniversity Medical Center Brackenridge · USVirginia Spine Research Institute · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeTo evaluate the safety and efficacy of radiofrequency (RF) ablation of the basivertebral nerve (BVN) for the treatment of chronic low back pain (CLBP) in a Food and Drug Administration approved Investigational Device Exemption trial. The BVN has been shown to innervate endplate nociceptors which are thought to be a source of CLBP.

methodsA total of 225 patients diagnosed with CLBP were randomized to either a sham (78 patients) or treatment (147 patients) intervention. The mean age within the study was 47 years (range 25-69) and the mean baseline ODI was 42. All patients had Type I or Type II Modic changes of the treated vertebral bodies. Patients were evaluated preoperatively, and at 2 weeks, 6 weeks and 3, 6 and 12 months postoperatively. The primary endpoint was the comparative change in ODI from baseline to 3 months.

resultsAt 3 months, the average ODI in the treatment arm decreased 20.5 points, as compared to a 15.2 point decrease in the sham arm (p = 0.019, per-protocol population). A responder analysis based on ODI decrease ≥ 10 points showed that 75.6% of patients in the treatment arm as compared to 55.3% in the sham control arm exhibited a clinically meaningful improvement at 3 months.

conclusionPatients treated with RF ablation of the BVN for CLBP exhibited significantly greater improvement in ODI at 3 months and a higher responder rate than sham treated controls. BVN ablation represents a potential minimally invasive treatment for the relief of chronic low back pain. These slides can be retrieved under Electronic Supplementary Material.

Indexed as

SpineAdultAgedCatheter AblationChronic PainDouble-Blind MethodHumansLow Back PainMiddle AgedPain MeasurementProspective StudiesTreatment OutcomeBasivertebral nerveChronic low back painDegenerative disc diseaseIDE trialRadiofrequency ablationRandomized controlled studySham controlled

Identifiers

PMID29423885
OpenAlexW2792245272

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.