Intradiscal Electrothermal Therapy (IDET)

IDET is the abbreviation for Intradiscal Electrothermal Therapy™. This is a fairly recent technique, FDA approved in 1998, developed for treatment of pain originating from a spinal disc. In the past, severe low back and leg pain caused by a defect in the spinal disc typically required surgery. Surgery frequently can “cure” the problem, but it may not improve the pain. Surgery is also very invasive, not to mention expensive. The IDET procedure was developed and designed with the goal of reducing pain with less invasive techniques, decreasing the risks of complications, and lessening the recovery time and expense.

The IDET procedure is typically used to treat patients who have symptoms from small tears of the discs. The IDET catheter delivers heat directly to the outer wall (annulus) and inner disc contents (nucleus) via heating coil. It is designed to do three things: (1) Destroy the pain receptors in the disc, (2) change the structure of the collagen disc wall “melting the tear”, and (3) cauterize the new pain receptor nerve fibers and blood vessels that have grown into the degenerated discs.