BACKGROUND: Knee osteoarthritis is a disease that affects a third of the population over 65 years of age, and it is increasingly becoming a motive for consultation and a source of pain and disability. The gold standard surgical treatment is a total knee arthroplasty; however, 15% to 30% of patients who have undergone surgery continue to experience pain and functional limitation. METHODS: A double-blind, randomized clinical study compared neurolysis using traditional radiofrequency (RF) to local anesthetic and corticosteroid block of the superolateral, superomedial, and inferomedial branches of the knee genicular nerves in patients who had total knee arthroplasty but still experience pain. RESULTS: Twenty-eight patients, 14 on each treatment arm, were followed for over a 1-year period. A reduction in pain and significant joint function improvement during the first 3 to 6 months was shown, with similar results using both techniques. No adverse effects were noted. An improvement in both disability and quality of life was observed, as well as a reduction in the need for analgesics in both treatment groups. CONCLUSIONS: Further clinical trials need to be undertaken, with a larger sample size, in order to demonstrate the efficacy of this technique and to detect the possible appearance of any long-term adverse effects.
RCT Entities:
BACKGROUND:Knee osteoarthritis is a disease that affects a third of the population over 65 years of age, and it is increasingly becoming a motive for consultation and a source of pain and disability. The gold standard surgical treatment is a total knee arthroplasty; however, 15% to 30% of patients who have undergone surgery continue to experience pain and functional limitation. METHODS: A double-blind, randomized clinical study compared neurolysis using traditional radiofrequency (RF) to local anesthetic and corticosteroid block of the superolateral, superomedial, and inferomedial branches of the knee genicular nerves in patients who had total knee arthroplasty but still experience pain. RESULTS: Twenty-eight patients, 14 on each treatment arm, were followed for over a 1-year period. A reduction in pain and significant joint function improvement during the first 3 to 6 months was shown, with similar results using both techniques. No adverse effects were noted. An improvement in both disability and quality of life was observed, as well as a reduction in the need for analgesics in both treatment groups. CONCLUSIONS: Further clinical trials need to be undertaken, with a larger sample size, in order to demonstrate the efficacy of this technique and to detect the possible appearance of any long-term adverse effects.
Authors: Rudolf Likar; Johann Auer; Albert Chavanne; Wilfried Ilias; Michael Kern; Petra Krepler; Hans-Georg Kress; Ulrike Lischnig; Gernot Maurer; Oliver Sommer; Martin C Spendel; Siegfried Thurnher; Karl Wohak; Andreas Wolf; Michael Wölkhart Journal: Schmerz Date: 2021-01-14 Impact factor: 1.107
Authors: Max L Willinger; Jamie Heimroth; Nipun Sodhi; Luke J Garbarino; Peter A Gold; Vijay Rasquinha; Jonathan R Danoff; Sreevathsa Boraiah Journal: Curr Pain Headache Rep Date: 2021-04-17
Authors: Corey W Hunter; Timothy R Deer; Mark R Jones; George C Chang Chien; Ryan S D'Souza; Timothy Davis; Erica R Eldon; Michael F Esposito; Johnathan H Goree; Lissa Hewan-Lowe; Jillian A Maloney; Anthony J Mazzola; John S Michels; Annie Layno-Moses; Shachi Patel; Jeanmarie Tari; Jacqueline S Weisbein; Krista A Goulding; Anikar Chhabra; Jeffrey Hassebrock; Chris Wie; Douglas Beall; Dawood Sayed; Natalie Strand Journal: J Pain Res Date: 2022-09-08 Impact factor: 2.832