Nesfield’s Treatment (percutaneous neurotomy)

The procedure was first developed in 1918 by an English surgeon, Mr Vincent Nesfield. He treated soldiers returning from the First World War with a condition he called ‘trench back’. Today a growing number of Australian medical practitioners offer this treatment, led by Dr Richard Stuckey.

This particular treatment should only be considered by patients:

• who have suffered back or neck pain for more than six months
• have not responded to other forms of treatment
• the problem is not surgically correctable
• have tender spots (trigger points) in the vicinity of their pain
• the pain is getting worse

Following an in-depth discussion to assess the suitability of the treatment for the patient – the simple procedure takes approximately 35 minutes and does not require hospitalisation. The trigger points are located and injected with local anaesthetic, then a small incision is made into the muscle through a puncture in the skin. This results in dividing the pain-conducting nerve fibres.

This treatment has had mixed reactions from the medical profession and for the most part has not been readily accepted. How Nesfield’s Treatment works is difficult to prove, but Dr. Stuckey’s research with over 3,400 patients during the last decade, has shown a 70% success rate of long term pain relief.

This summary was taken from Dr Richard Stuckey’s book ‘Say Goodbye to Back Pain’.

Dr Richard Stuckey
www.drstuckey.com.au