Patients with discogenic back pain who’ve exhausted physical therapy, medications, and injections — but aren’t ideal surgical candidates (or simply aren’t ready to go down that road), what to do with these “gray zone” patients?
DISCSEEL® hopes to be an answer.
The DISCSEEL Story
Discogenic pain remains one of the most challenging diagnoses in spine care.
Lots of causes. Degenerative disc disease, annular tears, herniations, and disc-related radiculopathy often sit in diagnostic and therapeutic limbo.
Duke Health and other academic centers have written and studied these patients extensively and documented that many experience progressive pain and loss of function despite standard conservative management.
DISCSEEL takes a different angle: treat the disc pathology directly. The outpatient, image-guided procedure combines diagnostic discography with same-session biologic treatment.
Painful discs are identified using contrast dye under fluoroscopy, followed by targeted application of fibrin, a biologic material intended to seal annular tears and support the body’s natural healing response.
What the Data Say (So Far)
Clinical research published in Pain Physician reports that approximately 50% of patients experienced sustained pain relief at one year, with some continuing to improve for up to three years post-procedure.
Notably, the study reported no significant adverse events.
“The DISCSEEL Procedure meets our standards for safety and efficacy,” says Dr. Boleslav Kosharskyy of Pain Management NYC. “For patients with chronic disc-related pain — especially those who haven’t responded to conventional therapies — it offers a biologic, minimally invasive option worth considering.”
Where This Fits in the Spine Care Ecosystem
DISCSEEL is not a replacement for surgery. It’s intended to be a bridge or alternative for patients who: are not surgical candidates, want to delay surgery, have persistent discogenic pain despite conservative care and are seeking options beyond long-term opioid therapy.
“We see patients who feel stuck between ‘nothing left to try’ and ‘surgery feels like too much,’” adds Dr. Dmitriy Dvoskin. “For some, DISCSEEL may offer meaningful relief without the recovery, risk profile, or permanence of surgery.”
For more information: https://discseel.com/