Percutaneous pulsed radiofrequency treatment of dorsal root ganglion for treatment of lumbar facet syndrome.

OBJECTIVES: Percutaneous radiofrequency denervation of the medial dorsal branch is often used for treatment of chronic low back pain originating from intervertebral facets, which is sometimes associated with a low success rate and a higher incidence of recurrence of pain. We theorized that implementing pulsed radiofrequency treatment to dorsal root ganglion would increase the probability of successful pain relief. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 150 patients diagnosed with CLBP of a confirmed facet origin were included in a prospective randomized controlled trial and were randomly divided into three equal groups, the first was submitted to percutaneous pulsed radiofrequency treatment of the dorsal root ganglia, the second underwent percutaneous radiofrequency denervation of the medial dorsal branch and the third was a control group that did not receive any radiofrequency treatment. Local injection of a mixture of local anesthetic and a steroid was given to the three groups. Cases were followed for a maximum of 3 years.
RESULTS: 98 (65.3 %) patients were females. By 3 months' post procedure, improvement in VAS was significantly better than pretreatment levels in all groups (p= 0.026); the pulsed radiofrequency treatment group, however, had significantly better incidence of improvement when compared to the other two groups (p= 0.014).The control group lost improvement by 1-year follow-up (p=0.63). At 2 years' follow-up, the pulsed radiofrequency treatment of the dorsal root ganglia group maintained significant improvement (p= 0.041) whereas the medial branch denervation group lost its significant effect (p=0.32).By the end of follow-up period, only pulsed radiofrequency treatment of the dorsal root ganglia group kept significant improvement (p=0.044).
CONCLUSION: In CLBP of facet origin, pulsed radiofrequency treatment of the dorsal root ganglia provides both a higher incidence as well as an extended period of pain relief compared to radiofrequency ablation of the medial dorsal branch of the facet joint.

RCT Entities:   Population Interventions Outcomes