Vertis PNT—An Important Option In Your Continuum of Treatment Alternatives.

Effective treatment options for patients with low back pain present a vexing challenge. Now there's a minimally invasive therapy proven effective for many patients: Vertis Percutaneous Neuromodulation Therapy or PNT.

Controlling pain early may offer the most promising approach to preventing the "central hypersensitization" of nerve pathways—a process that is thought to lead to unremitting pain.1 As low back pain evolves to a more chronic state, it is often associated with an increasing number of diagnostic and invasive procedures.2 The use of a low risk option early in the process, such as PNT, may potentially reduce the number of patients who progress to the chronic stage where pain can become intractable and lead to long-term disability.

PNT offers physicians and their patients a distinctly new treatment option with the following benefits:

  • Proven therapy offering meaningful relief across a wide spectrum of patients with low back pain.
  • Low-risk, nonpharmacological and non-surgical treatment option—a clear alternative to more invasive and potentially morbid treatments for low back pain.
  • Well tolerated by most patients—clinical studies involving hundreds of treatment sessions have shown few side effects or complications.3,4

  • Important pain-relieving treatment option, which may allow greater patient participation in physical rehabilitation programs.


Meaningful Pain Relief For Many Patients.

In a recent multicenter study, researchers examined the effect and benefit of Vertis PNT™ on a population of low back pain patients with pain radiating into the lower extremities. Eighty-three patients were enrolled in the study with a duration of radiating low back pain from 4 weeks to 6 months, and a pain intensity of at least 4 on a Visual Analog Scale (VAS) of 10, with 10 being the worst possible pain. Patients were treated approximately once a week for four weeks, with the option to receive additional treatments on an "as needed" basis for an additional 8 weeks. Fifty-nine patients completed the initial 4-week protocol.4

During the study, there were no significant complications or side effects. Seventy-six percent of patients completing the protocol indicated that if they experienced another episode of low back pain, they would want to receive PNT treatments again, demonstrating that PNT is well tolerated and results in a high level of patient satisfaction.4

1Ren K. Dubner R. Central nervous system plasticity and persistent pain. Journal of
  Orofacial Pain. 1999
2evidence of Value ModelŪ developed by Strategic Health ResourcesŪ.
  December 2001
3Seroussi R, Gliner BE, Steinintz E, Schmitt S, Gamburd R, Firlik AD. Effectiveness
  of Percutaneous Neuromodulation Therapy for Patients with Chronic and Severe
  Low Back Pain. Accepted for publication, Pain Practice, Volume 3, Issue 1, March
  2003.
4Borg-Stein J, Seroussi RG, Schmitt S, et al. Safety and efficacy of percutaneous   neuromodulation therapy in the management of subacute radiating low back pain.
  In Press. 2002

Caution: Federal law (USA) restricts this device to sale by or on the order of a physician.