An Overview of Vertebral Axial Decompression
Canadian Journal of Clinical Medicine Vol. 5, No. 1, January 1998
Dr. Frank Tilaro, M.D.
(page five of six)

The treatment was considered a success if the baseline aggregate score for pain and disability was reduced by 50% after 10 treatments of VAX-D therapy. Sixty-six percent of the patients achieved success according to the study protocol. Prior to therapy the aggregate score for pain and disability was 5.1 and after 10 treatment sessions in the successful group it was 1.2.

The Clinical Outcome Assessment Study was conducted at McAllen HCA Hospital by Dr. G Ramos.(31) Fifty-two patients completed VAX-D therapy as the primary modality. Thirty-eight patients (73%) achieved a positive outcome with remission of their low back pain symptoms and a return to functional levels of activity. Ninety percent of the recovered group were suffering from disc herniations, the majority (89%) being subligamentous while 11% had extruded herniations. Neurological deficits did not compromise the response to therapy.

Review of the patients clinical findings for those who achieved remission showed that 33% exhibited neurological deficits and 73% had sciatic pain prior to therapy with VAX-D. Dr. E. Gose, Dr. W Naguszewski, and Dr. R Naguszewski have completed an outcome study of VAX-D therapy from over twenty medical centers that included over 700 patients. Patients with back pain, with or without leg pain were included in the study as well as the failed surgical back patient. All patients had a diagnosis of a herniated disc, degenerative disc or facet syndrome. The authors are very enthusiastic about the outcome and have prepared a detailed report of their findings which have been accepted for publication in another respected medical journal.

An outcome study at Columbia Hospital, Tulsa OK. is currently being conducted that shows a level of success consistent with the above study.

SUMMARY

VAX-D therapy addresses the biomechanical aspects of discogenic disease and achieves its objective through decompression. It should be utilized in patients with low back pain, with or without radiculopathy who have failed conventional therapy (physiotherapy and chiropractic), and should be utilized prior to addressing surgery. By addressing the altered biomechanics responsible for disc disease, the VAX-D therapeutic table not only alleviates pain but has been shown to exert a beneficial effect on a major determinant in the equation responsible for discogenic disease, that is elevated intradiscal pressure.

Further analysis of future and unpublished research should be considered to further validate the therapeutic benefit of VAX-D therapy, however, these clinical studies have shown it to be effective in back pain syndromes with or without radiculopathy including herniated discs and internal disc disruption.

The chronic back pain patients and surgical patients are very costly to society. Since many of these patients are responsive to VAX-D therapy, this unique non-obtrusive means of managing the common forms of debilitating low back pain associated with discogenic disease could represent a considerable savings.

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