网红黑料

The pain was so bad he couldn鈥檛 turn his head. For two years, he couldn鈥檛 drive or wander around his yard or even sleep. Worst of all, William Tuten couldn鈥檛 go out on his boat 鈥� a hobby he鈥檚 so fond of that his wife has a sign: 鈥淗e鈥檚 not here, he鈥檚 fishing.鈥�

In March, Tuten was the first patient to undergo a new nonsurgical procedure now being offered at the University of Florida 网红黑料 Spine & Sports Intervention Center, located at 网红黑料 Shands Rehab Hospital. William S. Jacobs, M.D., the co-chief of pain in the UF department of psychiatry, used Cervicool, a water-cooled radiofrequency system by Kimberly-Clark Corp., to treat the facet joints in Tuten鈥檚 neck.

鈥淭he result is immediate,鈥� Tuten said. 鈥淵ou lose the pain before you leave the building.鈥�

Cervical facet joints connect the bones in the upper spine, acting as hinges that allow bending and twisting. When inflamed because of trauma or arthritis, they can cause chronic pain.

鈥淎cute pain gets you out of trouble,鈥� said Jacobs, who is board-certified in anesthesiology, addiction medicine and pain medicine. 鈥淵ou put your hand on a hot stove, you move your hand. But chronic pain doesn鈥檛 really serve a great purpose. You have pain that hurts all the time, every day, and when you start to realize it鈥檚 never really going to go away 鈥� then it starts to eat at people.鈥�

Many people with this type of neck pain turn to surgery for relief. However, for patients like Tuten, surgery is considered too risky because of age or preexisting medical conditions. Orthopedic surgeons told the 63-year-old that his arthritis was so extensive that it would require multiple dangerous surgeries to fix it.

Enter radiofrequency treatment. This interventional pain procedure doesn鈥檛 fix the arthritis or other medical issues, but it does block the pain for six to 12 months.

The first step is determining which cervical facet joints are actually causing the pain. Typically, Jacobs targets the three likeliest joints along one side of the spine, although many patients return to get the other side done once they鈥檝e recovered, he said.

The actual procedure involves inserting a 6-inch needle next to the nerve of the offending cervical facet joint. The needle connects to a machine that sends radiofrequency energy down through the tip, thereby heating the needle and the nerve it鈥檚 touching. Absorbing the heat energy effectively stuns the nerve, blocking the pain signal to the brain.

鈥淚t feels like someone is pinching you a little bit,鈥� said Tuten, who, like most patients, only required a local anesthetic during the procedure.

These injections don鈥檛 destroy the nerve, since doing so would cause the nerve to grow back without its normal structure, usually resulting in a bundle of nerves that cause more pain than the original inflammation.

The entire process takes approximately 40 minutes to complete; however, Jacobs and his team prep as they would for minor surgery. It鈥檚 still a technical procedure 鈥� hitting the wrong area could paralyze an arm or damage a blood vessel, which is why X-ray imaging guides each step. They鈥檝e even treated patients with pacemakers; a particular challenge since the radiofrequency energy could potentially reprogram the devices, said Jacobs, an associate professor of psychiatry.

But this technology, which has served as an alternative to surgery and painkillers for approximately 15 years, is becoming more precise. Released in February, Cervicool is the first water-cooled radiofrequency system on the market 鈥� meaning it uses water circulation to cool the tubes connected to the needle. This allows for better control, not only when targeting the nerve, but also for controlling the temperature of the needle, Jacobs said.

鈥淐ooled radiofrequency gives us gives us a perfectly round treatment area, so you consistently know where you鈥檙e treating,鈥� Jacobs said. 鈥淚t also treats a bigger area at a lower temperature, so you can have it on the nerve for almost twice as long. It鈥檚 more effective for your patient, and will probably last longer.鈥�

Jacobs was one of approximately 12 Florida doctors who went to Tampa in February to receive additional training from the Cervicool developers. Since then, he鈥檚 treated 10 patients with the new technology and each one has walked out saying that the pain is gone, Jacobs said.

鈥淚鈥檓 so thankful that they came up with this procedure,鈥� Tuten said. 鈥淵ou know you still got a problem there, but it鈥檚 tolerable and you can live with it. It gives people like myself a quality of life that we wouldn鈥檛 have otherwise.鈥�

On his first time out fishing since the procedure, Tuten didn鈥檛 catch anything.

鈥淏ut,鈥� he said, 鈥淚 was in the boat.鈥�