Terminology and Legislation referring to Percutaneous Facet Procedures to Treat Low Back Pain in Brazil – Current Status
Arq. bras. neurocir; 39 (4), 2020
Publication year: 2020
Incongruities in the terminology and in the Brazilian legislation about percutaneous
facet procedures (PFPs) for the treatment of chronic lower back pain are frequently the
subject of litigations between health professionals and supplementary healthcare
providers. The Brazilian Hierarchical Classification of Medical Procedures (CBHPM, in
the Portuguese acronym) describes four types of PFPs, while the Brazilian Unified
Supplementary Health Terminology (TUSS, in the Portuguese acronym) describes five
distinct lumbar PFPs, which correlate with the ones described on the List of Procedures
and Events in Health, created by the Brazilian National Agency of Supplementary Health
(ANS, in the Portuguese acronym). In the present paper, we review the terminology of
the procedures, proposing the unification of the terminology and the abolition of
redundancies in the tables. Finally, we developed a single terminology proposal for the
PFPs based on their complexity and objectives to be used for the treatment of lower
back pain.