VAX-D Part 1 - How it Works

Saturday, June 8, 2002 | 0

Vertebral Axial Decompression (VAX-D) is a non-invasive treatment that produces a distraction force sufficient to decompress discs in the lumbar spine and is applied exclusively to the lumbar spine.

A multi-step screening process is completed on every prospective patient before initiation of this therapy. Upon referral from the primary care physician, each patient undergoes a thorough spinal assessment by a licensed physical therapist in consultation with the medical director. Diagnostic test results are always required to assist the therapist and/or medical director in making the appropriate decision for care.

In addition, it assists in determining any contraindications for treatment with VAX-D. Relative contraindications such as spondylolisthesis or spondylolysis are ruled out. Once treatment is initiated, the patient is seen on a five times per week basis with an average duration of 20 treatments. Each treatment requires constant attendance from the treating therapist for the purposes of monitoring patient response and altering parameters as the treatment progresses.

The VAX-D therapy involves prone distraction of the lumbar spine to load levels that can only be reached by fixation of the upper torso, along with the distraction of the pelvis.

The upper torso fixation is controlled by the patient who grips the handgrips with the shoulder flexed at approximate a 160 degree angle. The patient is able to stop this force immediately by simply releasing his/her grip. The lumbar spine is distracted by a patented harness attached to the patient and to the hydraulic ram, which is calibrated to produce maximum allowable force across the pathologically involved disc level of the lumbar spine. The applied load force is similar to, and at times, even less than that applied by pelvic traction.

However, secondary to the method of application of this force, VAX-D produces a tremendous pressure gradient between the intradiscal space and surrounding tissue that pelvic traction cannot produce. The negative intradiscal pressure produced (ranging from -100 to -150 mm Hg) and the clinical effect of that negative pressure is a major factor distinguishing VAX-D from pelvic traction.

Theories concerning lumbar disc pathologic anatomy are that the annulus or disc casing which surrounds the core or nucleus pulposus acts under the forces produced by VAX-D to decompress the abnormally bulging disc material. This distraction across the disc joint level allows the swollen or edematous nerve root to return to its normal, uninflamed diameter within the foramen, or nerve root passageway. This is the principal reason that VAX-D treatment is far more effective than pelvic traction, the latter being abandoned in the treatment of herniated and degenerative disc disease.

The next article will examine the FDA approval of this process and its distinction from traction.

To learn more about Vax-D, go to http://www.vax-d.com.