new_sweater
Member
Just a month ago, a new procedure was performed for the first time.
http://www.oregonlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news/115397072449120.xml?oregonian?lcfp&coll=7
A doctor bathes the nerves in phenol to damage them. These are the same nerves that are the target of the ETS procedure, but the doctor uses CT fluoroscopy to help direct the phenol to the desired point.
It's supposed to work better than ETS, but I'm skeptical. One of the main problems with ETS seems to be that the nerves are all clumped together, and it's sometimes hard to isolate the particular one you're after. The news article says that the doctor made the patient sit up so that the phenol dripped down and not up, which protects the nerves that could cause Horner's syndrome. I just wonder if it would drip down onto nerves and cause other problems. Also, the doctor had to thread a needle around all sorts of things: "'Ooh, it's tough,' he exclaimed at one point. 'We're working millimeter by millimeter.'"
I'm the kind of person who takes a wait and see approach anyway, but this looks like it's a ways from being perfected. I also would expect many of the same problems to occur that many ETS patients complain about, like excessive dryness.
http://www.oregonlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news/115397072449120.xml?oregonian?lcfp&coll=7
A doctor bathes the nerves in phenol to damage them. These are the same nerves that are the target of the ETS procedure, but the doctor uses CT fluoroscopy to help direct the phenol to the desired point.
It's supposed to work better than ETS, but I'm skeptical. One of the main problems with ETS seems to be that the nerves are all clumped together, and it's sometimes hard to isolate the particular one you're after. The news article says that the doctor made the patient sit up so that the phenol dripped down and not up, which protects the nerves that could cause Horner's syndrome. I just wonder if it would drip down onto nerves and cause other problems. Also, the doctor had to thread a needle around all sorts of things: "'Ooh, it's tough,' he exclaimed at one point. 'We're working millimeter by millimeter.'"
I'm the kind of person who takes a wait and see approach anyway, but this looks like it's a ways from being perfected. I also would expect many of the same problems to occur that many ETS patients complain about, like excessive dryness.