An innovation for painless treatment of disc disease is applied for the first time in Pleven

An innovation for painless treatment of disc disease is applied for the first time in Pleven. The method is available at the high-tech hospital ‘Heart and Brain’ and has helped the first patients, the hospital team said.

Assoc. Prof. Dimitar Haritonov – head of the Neurosurgery Clinic, explained that it is a new generation implant – the so-called discogel. Discogel treatment has been successfully applied in the USA and Europe for several years, and now also in our country – for the time being in the Heart and Brain Center of Clinical Excellence in Pleven. So far it has been applied to more than 10 patients between 20 and 40.

Assoc. Prof. Hritonov noted that the substance is polymerized in the nucleus of the intervertebral disc, improves its functions and strengthens its structure. It is an extremely minimally invasive method, where the patient does not feel any pain and can return to his normal rhythm of life hours after the procedure, he pointed out.

“The indications for the application of the discogel are relatively limited, with the application mainly targeted at patients up to 45 years of age. The method is particularly recommended for the initial stage of disc disease”, clarified Assoc. Prof. Haritonov. He defines the implant as a breakthrough in the treatment of the disease, which is faced by more and more young patients.

“The intervention takes about 30 minutes and is called a surgical procedure, but in practice it is an injection. It is done under general intravenous and local anaesthesia. The injection is placed directly into the nucleus of the intervertebral disc itself, where the appropriate amount of discogel is inserted under X-ray control. Half an hour after the procedure, the patient is able to get up and move about on his own without the need for any help. The only restriction is the fine-tuning of physical exertion within 3 to 4 weeks after the procedure,” the doctor said.