GREEN BAY – BayCare Clinic Pain & Rehab Medicine offers a new treatment for leg and back pain. It’s called Vertiflex.
It’s a minimally-invasive outpatient procedure that delivers long-term relief for patients who have leg and back pain associated with lumbar spinal stenosis – a narrowing of the spinal canal which compresses the nerves traveling through the lower back into the legs.
During the Vertiflex procedure a small titanium alloy spacer is placed inside the spine to help prevent narrowing of the space when the patient is standing or walking. It serves as an extension blocker that relieves pressure on the nerves and alleviates the leg and back pain symptoms that often accompany lumbar spinal stenosis.
The Vertiflex procedure also preserves the patient’s spinal anatomy and helps minimize the effects of spinal degeneration.
People who have had the Vertiflex procedure report significant reduction in symptoms and improved physical function. They can go home on the same day although their activities are limited for six weeks after the procedure.
The Vertiflex procedure is FDA-approved and is covered by Medicare.
Because the Vertiflex procedure doesn’t involve drugs or pharmaceuticals, it offers an alternative to prescription opioids for people with chronic leg and back pain stemming from lumbar spinal stenosis.
It is being offered by Dr. Christopher Howson at BayCare Clinic Pain & Rehab Medicine in Green Bay, Marinette and Kaukauna.