After Years of Suffering, Innovative Spine Procedure Relieves Young Mom’s Unrelenting Back Pain

After years of disabling back pain, a young New Jersey mom finally got her life back thanks to an innovative nonsurgical procedure called basivertebral nerve ablation at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS). Also known as BVN ablation or the Intracept procedure, the treatment applies heat to disrupt a specific spinal nerve that is transmitting pain signals to the brain. Thirty-two-year-old Rosie Amoroso had suffered from low back pain for years, but it got progressively worse after giving birth three years ago. She says the pain became so severe, she often found it impossible to sleep. "My back would be so bad, I couldn't pick up my son. I couldn't do basic things around the house, and I was putting a lot of pressure on my husband. He was very supportive but had a long commute to New York City for work every day." Desperate for relief, Rosie consulted with nine different doctors in New Jersey, tried physical therapy and medication, received numerous epidural spinal injections, and underwent repeated radiofrequency ablation procedures. Nothing helped. The unrelenting pain wasn't her only challenge. While seeking care, Rosie says she dealt with doctors who made her feel "very dismissed," suffered through uncomfortable procedures that provided no relief, and spent thousands of dollars in insurance co-payments. Still, she refused to give up hope. "I was ready to do anything to eliminate the pain, even if it meant spine surgery," she recalls. At that point, she made an appointment at HSS in Manhattan. Her father had undergone major surgery there with excellent results. Rosie made the two-hour trip from her home in Hazlet, New Jersey, to HSS to consult with a leading spine surgeon. After reviewing her medical history and examining her, he referred her to Edward S. Yoon, MD, chief of the division of interventional radiology at HSS. Dr. Yoon determined that Rosie was a candidate for BVN ablation and performed the procedure in May 2025. The treatment has changed her life. She is now pain-free and deeply grateful to Dr. Yoon, not only for relieving her suffering but also for demonstrating exceptional compassion and understanding. "I felt like he went above and beyond, like he really cared about me," she recalls. Basivertebral Nerve Ablation A minimally invasive nonsurgical procedure, BVN ablation uses radiofrequency energy to ablate-or shut down-the basivertebral nerve in the spine to prevent it from sending pain signals to the brain. "BVN ablation is a targeted treatment for a specific type of chronic lower back pain called vertebrogenic pain, which results from damage to vertebral endplates. A vertebral endplate is the interface between the spinal disc and the bony portion of a spine vertebra," Dr. Yoon explains. "Microfractures or other damage to a vertebral endplate leads to inflammation, which causes the adjacent basivertebral nerves to transmit pain signals to the brain." Patients who find relief with BVN ablation often describe pain in the middle of their lower back that is made worse by physical activity, prolonged sitting, bending forward, or when bending down and lifting objects, Dr. Yoon explains. To accurately diagnose vertebrogenic pain and confirm that a patient is a candidate for BVN ablation, doctors look for specific changes on a patient's MRI, known as Modic changes, that occur with vertebral endplate inflammation. Dr. Yoon notes that basivertebral nerve ablation is not useful for treating low back pain caused by conditions that have not affected the endplates, such as a herniated disc. Delighted with her remarkable recovery, Rosie expresses immense gratitude for regaining her quality of life since having the procedure. "Before the treatment, I barely slept two hours a night. Now I can sleep through the night," she says. "I can pick up my son, take him to the jungle gym, go down the slide with him. It's a big deal." To add to her happiness, Rosie recently learned that she and her husband are expecting their second child. BVN ablation is an outpatient treatment often covered by insurance plans. For more information, visit: https://www.hss.edu/health-library/conditions-and-treatments/intracept-procedure-basivertebral-nerve-ablation