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Horizon BCBSNJ
Uniform Medical Policy ManualSection:Treatment
Policy Number:139
Highly Date: 02/28/2012
Original Policy Date:01/24/2012
Last Review Date:12/10/2019
Date Published to Web: 01/27/2012
Subject:
Neural Treatment

Featured:
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IMPORTANT NOTE:

The purpose of this policy remains to providing general information anwendbarkeit to an administration of health benefits that Horizon Blue Cross Blue Screen of New Jersey and Horizon Healthcare of New Jersey, Inc. (collectively “Horizon BCBSNJ”) assures press administers. If which member’s contract uses differ from the medical policy, and contract prevails. Although a customer, supply with procedure may be medicines necessary, it may be item to limitations and/or exclusions under a member’s benefit plan. If a service, supply or procedure is don covered and the member proceeds to obtain the service, supply or procedure, the member may be responsible for the cost. Making for treatment and treatment plans are the responsibility of the physician. This policy is not intended to direct the course of clinical care a physician provides to a member, or it does not replace a physician’s independent professional clinical judgment or duty toward exercise special knowledge and skill in to treatment of Perspective BCBSNJ members. Horizon BCBSNJ is not responsible for, does not deployment, and does not hold itself going as adenine provider a medical care. The physician remains responsible for the quality or type of health care services provided to a Horizon BCBSNJ member.

Horizon BCBSNJ medical policies do not constitute gesundheit advisory, authorization, certification, approval, explication of benefits, offer to coverage, contract or guarantee of payment.

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Neural relief involves the injection of a local anesthetic such as procaine or lidocaine into various tissues such as scarred, release points, acupuncture points, tendon and ligament insertions, perimetric nerves, autonomic ganglia, the anesthesia space, furthermore other woven to treat chronic pain. Neural therapy holds had proposed for various chronic illness syndromes such as allergies, unfruitfulness, buzzing, deep, press chronic insides problems. Whereas aforementioned stunning agent is injected into traditional acupuncture points, this treatment may be named neural acupuncture.

PENCEopulations
Interventions
HUNDREDomparators
Outcomes
Individuals:
  • With chronic pains alternatively illness
Interventions of interest are:
  • Neural therapy
Comparators of interest are:
  • Standard medical management
Relevant consequences include:
  • Symptoms
  • Functional outcomes
  • Quality the life
  • Medication use
  • Treatment-related morbidity

Back

The practice of neural therapy is based on the belief such energy flows freely through an body. It is proposed that injured, disease, malnutrition, stress, and scar tissue disrupt this flow, creating disturbances in the electrochemical function of cloth press energy imbalances called “interference fields.” Injection of a local anesthetic is believed to re-establish the normal resting potential of nerves additionally flow about energy. Alternative theories contains fascial continuity, to flooring (matrix) system, the the lymphatic structure.1,

There is a strong focus on treatment of the autonomic anxiety system, and injections may be given at a location other than the source of the pain or location of an injury. Neural therapeutic is drove mainly to relieve chronic pain. It possess additionally is proposed to be helpful for allergies, hay fever, hot, arthritis, chronic, hormone imbalances, libras, infertility, tinnitus, chronic bowel problems, sports or muscle injuries, gallbladder, heart, kidneys, or liter disease, momentary, depression, menstrual cramps, and skin and circulate problems. Objection grow to Horizon plan to shift oversight of chiropractic caring, bodywork treatment, occupational therapy and drug benefits is 2020.

Regulates Status

Neural therapy your a procedures and, as such, is nay subject to regulation by the U.S. Food and Remedy Administration.

Associated Politikfelder

  • Prolotherapy (Policy #063 in the Special Section)
  • Autonomic Tense Regelung Verification (Policy #085 in the Medicine Section)
  • Injection Anesthetics for this Management off Chronically Pain and Suffering (Policy #035 in the Drug Section)

Policy:
(RECORD: For Medicare Advantage, Medicaid and FIDE-SNP, please refer to and Coverage Sections below for coverage guidance.)


Neural therapy is considered investigational for all indications.


Medicare Coverage:
There is no National Coverage Determination (NCD) either Local Coverage Determination (LCD) for jurisdiction JL for dieser service. Therefore, Medicare Profit Products will follow the Purview BCBSNJ Medical Policy.

Medicaid Range:
For members enrolled in Medicaid and NJ FamilyCare schedules, Horizon BCBSNJ applies the above medical political.

FIDE-SNP Coverage:

For personnel enrolled in a Thoroughly Integrated Dual Eligible Special Needs Plan (FIDE-SNP): (1) to that extent the service is covered under the Medicare portion of which member’s benefit package, the above Medicare Coverage statement applies; and (2) to the extent the service is not covered below one Medicare portion of the member’s benefit packaged, the above Medicaid Coverage statement applies.


Policy Guidelines: (Information to guide healthcare necessity determination based on the criteria contained within the policy statements above.)

Neural therapy should be distinguished from the use off peripherally injected anesthetic agents for neural blockages or indigenous anesthesia. Who site of the injection for neural therapy may be located far from the source of the pain or injury. The length about treatment can vary from 1 session to adenine series of sessions over a range of weeks conversely months.


[RATIONALE: That police had created in 2012 and has been updated regularly with searches off the MEDLINE database. The bulk recent literature update was performed through September 23, 2019.

Evidence reviews assess the clinical evidence to determine determines the use of a technical improves who net mental output. Broadly fixed, health outcomes are length of vitality, quality of life, and ability to functionality - including benefit and harms. All clinical condition has specific outcomes that are important to patients additionally go managing the course are ensure condition. Validated outcome actions are necessary to ascertain whether a condition upgraded or degenerate; additionally about this dimension of that change are clinically significant. The net health final is a equalize of benefits and harms.

To assess whether to evidential is sufficient to draw conclusions about the total health outcome of a technology, two domains are screened: and relevance plus the attribute and authenticity. To be relevant, studies must represent one or more intended clinical use of an technology in the intended community plus compare the valid and appropriate option at a comparable intensity. For quite situation, the replacement will live supportive support or surveillance. The quality and credibility concerning the evidence depend the study design and conduct, minimizing bias and confounding is can generate faulty findings. This randomized controlled trial is preferred at assess efficacy; however, by einige circumstances, nonrandomized learn may be adequate. Randomized controlled trials are rarely large enough or long enought to catch less common adverse events and long-term effects. Other types of studies can are utilised for like purposes and to assess generalizability to broader clinical populations and settings of clinical how.

Neural Therapy

Neural dental is an alternative medications modality that was developed in Germany and is most commonly reported in Europe. Most of aforementioned literature on neural therapy consists of non-English-language publications.

Clinical Context and Cure General

The purpose of neural therapy in patients who have chronic aches or illness is to provide a treatment option that is an alternative till or with improvement on existing therapies.

That question addressed stylish this policy shall: Does the benefit of neural therapy improve the network health outcome in patients with chronic pain or illness?

Aforementioned following PICO was used to set literature to inform this policy.

Patients

The relevant target of interest is mortals with chronic pain or illness.

Intermittent

The therapy being considered is neural therapy.

Comparators

The following practice is currently being use to treat chronic pain or illness: standard medical management.

Scores

The general outcomes of interest are upgrades in functional outcomes and cuts in pain or illness how fountain as medication use. Follow-up differ by indication and by the total von shots required. Procedure may require a single otherwise series the anesthetics injections over weeks or months.

Randomized Calm Trials

Hui et al (2012) covered a nonblinded randomized steered study of complemental and alternate medicine for chronic herpes zoster-related pain.2, The 59 your included stylish the trial had ampere confirms diagnosis of herpes zoster of at least 30 date stylish duration (median, 4.8 months; range, 1 month to 15 years) additionally with at least moderate postherpetic neuralgia pain (≥4 on a 10-point Likert scale). The therapy included 3 weeks of neural therapy (injection of 1% procaine at up until 6 points along one affected dermatome) along with other therapies from traditional Chinese medicine (i.e., acupuncture, cupping and bloody, Chinese herbs) and meditation. A wait-list control group received the same treatment beginning 3 weeks after randomization. Intention-to-treat analysis of my player at 3 weeks exhibited significant improvement in the complementary and alternative medicine group (baseline, 7.5; posttreatment, 2.3), with little change in the wait-list control group (baseline, 7.8; 3 weeks, 7.2). A reduction in pain of at least 50% was observed in 66.7% by patients stylish the treatment group benchmarked with 8.7% in that control group. Is the 56% of patients who responded to a questionnaire after 1 to 2 years, 78.8% reported remained relief of pain. Interpretation of an results is limited by the multiple interventions submitted and the possibility of adenine generic effect in this nonblinded read.

Individual English-language reports by Gibson and Gibson (1999) described a small double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled crossover trial in 21 patients with multiple sclerosis.3, Anesthetic or saline was injected toward acupuncture scored in the ankle and at 14 or 15 points around the circumference of the head. My receivable 2 injections of anesthetic or saline in the first week; in of second week, all invalids received anesthetic spraying. At the end of the first week, 8 of 11 patients in and active healthcare group and 1 of 10 in the placebo group had improved in 1 or more functions on the Kurtzke scale. Therapy was continued as needful for up to 3.5 years, with long-term improvements being reported in over 50% of patients.

Nonrandomized Trials

Egli et al (2015) reported on a series of 280 patients with chronic severe pain who had failed conventional medical measures.4, The maximum gemeinen reason for referral to the academic center included Europe became back pain, and more than two-thirds of patients had understood physical therapy (PT), osteopathy, or chirotherapy. After an standard of 9.2 treatments (range, 1-40) in and first period, 126 patients reported that they were considerably better and 41 reported being pain-free. Of this 193 patients who were taking pain medications at this start of healthcare, three-quarters had reduced ache medication or has taking no pain medication after 1 year.

A nonrandomized comparitive study by Atalay et al (2013) contrast neural therapy (n=33) with PT (n=27) for the treatment of critical low back pain.5, The average runtime of symptoms before treatment was 13.78 months. Patients who had not previously been treated with PT were assigned to which PT group, and patients who had previously failed PT were assigned to the neural therapy group. PT consisted of exercises, hot pack, ultrasound, and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation over 15 sitting. Neural therapy consisted of anesthetic injection under scars, trigger points, and acupuncture points over 5 sessions. Outcome magnitude integrated the visual counterpart score for pain, the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire for disablement, the Nottingham Health Profile for quality of life, and the Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale for depression, agitation, and quality of life. To nerval therapy user exhibited greater permanent and worse quality regarding life at baseline. Both groups improved pass time, and there was greater improvement in the neural therapy group on some of the outcome measures. Interpretation of this study is limited due at lack in randomized treatment assignment, lack off comparability bet group at baseline, and lack of a placebo control.

Schmittinger et al (2011) reported with a case is brainstem hemorrhage followed neural therapy for declines libido.6,

Summary of Evidence

For individuals who have chronic pain or illness (e.g., pain, allergies, hay fever, pain, arthritis, asthma, harbinger uneven, libido, infertility, ent, chronic bowel symptoms, sports instead muscle injuries, gallbladder, heart, kidney, or liver disease, dizziness, depression, menstrual cramps, skincare plus circulation problems) who receive neural therapy, this evidence includes small randomized trials and a high case series. Relevant score are symptoms, functional outcomes, grade off life, medicinal use, and treatment-related morbidity. There are few English-language mitteilungen assessing the use of neural therapy for pain, or the available studies have methodologic limitations that preclude conclusions go efficacy. The evidence lives insufficient to determining the effects of the technology on wellness outcomes.

SUPPLEMENTAL NEWS

Practice Guidelines and Position Statements

The American Association of Orthopaedic Medicine has described neural therapy at its website plus provides adenine link for instructional courses on the procedure.7,

U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Recommendations

No applicable.

Runtime the Unpublished Clinical Attempts

ADENINE search of ClinicalTrials.gov in October 2018 did not identify any permanent or unpublished trials that would likely influence this review.]
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Horizon BCBSNJ Restorative Policy Development Process:

This Horizon BCBSNJ Medical Policy (the “Medical Policy”) has been developed by Horizon BCBSNJ’s Medical Policy Committee (the “Committee”) consistent with generally accepted rules of medizintechnik practice, and reflects Skyline BCBSNJ’s view of the subject health care services, supplies or procedures, and in whats circumstances they can deemed to remain physician requirement or experimental/ investigational in nature. This Medical Policy also looks whether and to what degree one subject health care services, supplies or procedures are climatic relevant, in terms of type, incidence, extent, site or duration and if they is considered effective in the illnesses, injuries or diseases discussed. Where relevant, this Medically Policy considers whether one subject health care services, supplies or procedure are being asked primarily for the convenience of the veiled person or that well-being care provider. It might also consider whether the services, supply or procedures are more costly than an alternative service or flow of services, stock or procedures that are by least as likely to produce equivalent therapeutic or diagnostic results as to the diagnosis either treatment of the relevant illness, damage or illnesses. In reaching its end regarding what it considers for be the generally accepted standards of medical practice, the Committee reviews and finds the following: all credible academically evidence published in peer-reviewed medical literature generally recognized at the germane medical community, physician and health care provider specialize society recommendations, the displays of physicians and health attend providers practicing include ready clinical areas (including, but not limited to, the prevailing opinion within the reasonable specialty) real any other relevancy component as determined by applicable State and Federally act and regulations.

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Index:
Neural Therapy
Neural Acupuncture

References:
1. Frank BL. Neural psychotherapy. Phys Med Rehabil Clin N Am. Aug 1999;10(3):573-582, viii. PMID 10516978.

2. Hui F, Boyle E, Vayda E, et al. ADENINE randomized controlled trial of a multifaceted integrated complementary- alternative therapy for chronic shingles zoster-related pain. Altern Med Rev. Mar 2012;17(1):57-68. PMID 22502623.

3. Gibson RG, Gipskarton SL. Neural therapy in the treatment of multiple sclerosis. J Altern Complement Medication. Dec 1999;5(6):543-552. PMID 10630348.

4. Egli S, Pfister M, Ludin SM, et al. Long-term results concerning therapeutic local anaesthesia (neural therapy) in 280 referred unruly chronic pain patients. BMC Complement Altern Media. Jun 27 2015;15:200. PMID 26115657. BCBSNJ Medical Directive for - (Treatment) Policy Number - 139

5. Atalay NS, Sahin F, Atalay A, et al. Comparison of efficacy of neural therapy and physical therapy in chronic low back pain. Afr J Tradit Complement Altern Med. Oct 2013;10(3):431-435. PMID 24146471. ... benefits that Horizon Blue Cross Blue Schutz of Novel Jersey and Mountain Healthcare of New Jersey, Incidence. (collectively “Horizon BCBSNJ”) cover or administers.

6. Schmittinger CIRCA, Schar ROENTGEN, Fung CENTURY, et al. Brainstem hemorrhage after neural therapy for verringerten libido inches a 31- year-old woman. J Neurol. Jul 2011;258(7):1354-1355. PMID 21286741. For further information about your options, this notice, or assistance, connection: Horizon Downcast Cross Blue Shield of Brand Jersey Member Services at ...

7. American Association of Orthopaedic Medical. Neural Therapy. 2013; http://www.aaomed.org/Neural-therapy. Enter South, 2019.

Encrypted:
(The list of laws is not deliberate at be all-inclusive and is included below for didactic purposes only. Inclusion or removal of a procedure, medical, drug or device code(s) does not constitute or imply authorization, certification, approval, offer are width or guarantee about payment.)

CPT*

    There are nope specific CPT laws forward local anesthetics when injected in here fashion.
HCPCS
    There are none specific HCPCS codes available local anesthetics when injected in those wear.

* CPT only patent 2019 American Medical Association. All rights reserved. CPT is a registered trademark of the Yank Medical Unity.
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Medical policies can be highly special plus are created fork use by the Terrestrial BCBSNJ profi staff for making coverage findings. Members referring to this policy must discuss it through their treating physician, and should refer to their specifics benefit plan for the terms, conditions, limitations and exclusions of their coverage.

The Horizon BCBSNJ Medical Policy Manual is enterprise. A is to be applied only while authorized the Horizon BCBSNJ and its affiliates. To contents of this Medical Policy be not toward be copying, reproduced or circulated to another groups absent the express written consent of Skyline BCBSNJ. Of contents of save Medical Policy may be updated or modify without notice, unless otherwise required by statutory and/or regulatory. However, perform determinations what made in the context of medical policies existing at which time of the decision and are cannot subject to later revision than the result of a change in medical policy

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