RadioFrequency Ablation….What is it?
Many times patients are scared to ask what a “RadioFrequency Ablation” is because of the fear of the unknown. This is a procedure that is very common in the interventional pain management world. It reduces pain by specifically burning nerves that innervate specific joints in the back and neck of the body that have become arthritic or painful in origin. Most patients who benefit from this procedure have already tried epidural injections and have degenerative and constant back or neck pain when sitting or standing.
Interestingly, it can be used on the knees for continued pain after knee surgery as well. Luckily this is an outpatient twenty minute procedure, that hopefully will give relief for upwards of a year if not longer. As physicians, we do not immediately lesion the nerve, but instead do a series of diagnostic medial branch blocks with local anesthetic to isolate the correct pain generators. Once patients confirm over 80% relief, then the next step is the RadioFrequency Ablation.
Prior to lesioning, there is testing of the sensory and motor nerves, and patients usually start to feel relief 7-10 days after the procedure with gradual improvements. The good news is the side effects are minimal besides the injection, as there are no incisions, surgery, or cortisone being injected!
Hopefully this information helps, and please call us if you are interested!
Posted on Feb 05 2020
