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AN ANATOMICAL ASSESSMENT OF THE “PERCUTANEOUS RHIZOLYSIS” PROCEDURE
Author(s) -
Bogduk Nikolai,
Colman R. R. S.,
Winer Conrad E. R.
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1977.tb130762.x
Subject(s) - zygapophyseal joint , medicine , dissection (medical) , lumbar , cadaver , denervation , percutaneous , surgery , anatomy , lumbar vertebrae
The procedure known as rhizolysis has been claimed to denervate the lumbar zygapophyseal joints. Analysis of the surgical anatomy of the incisions used in the procedure reveals that theoretically they do not interrupt the nerve supply to the zygapophyseal joints. The procedure was performed at six levels in each of three cadavers. Subsequent dissection revealed that at no level was the nerve supply to the zygapophyseal joints interrupted. The writers conclude that denervation of the zygapophyseal joints cannot be held to be the mechanism of any pain relief that rhizolysis may achieve.