The efficacy and safety of using cooled radiofrequency in treating chronic sacroiliac joint pain: A PRISMA-compliant meta-analysis.

Medicine (Baltimore)

The Spine Center, Department of Orthopedics, Zhong-Da Hospital, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China Department of Surgery, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Published: February 2018

Background: Cooled radiofrequency procedure is a novel minimally invasive surgical technique and has been occasionally utilized in managing chronic sacroiliac joint (SIJ) pain. A meta-analysis was conducted to systematically assess the efficacy and safety of using cooled radiofrequency in treating patients with chronic SIJ pain in terms of pain and disability relief, patients' satisfaction degree as well as complications.

Methods: Studies of using cooled radiofrequency procedure in managing SIJ pain were retrieved from Medline and Web of Science according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. Quality evaluation was conducted using Cochrane collaboration tool for randomized controlled trials and MINORS quality assessment for noncomparative trials. Statistics were managed using Review Manager 5.3.

Results: Totally 7 studies with 240 eligible patients were enrolled. The overall pooled results demonstrated that pain intensity decreased significantly after cooled radiofrequency procedure compared with that measured before treatment. The mean difference (MD) was 3.81 [95% confidence intervals (95% CIs): 3.29-4.33, P < .001] and 3.78 (95% CIs: 3.31-4.25, P < .001) as measured by the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) and Visual Analog Scale (VAS), respectively. Disability also relieved significantly after treatment compared with that measured before treatment. The MD was 18.2 (95% CIs: 12.22-24.17, P < .001) as measured by the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI). Seventy-two percent of the patients presented positive results as measured by the Global Perceived Effect (GPE). The OR was 0.01 (95% CIs: 0.00-0.05, P < .001). Only mild complications were observed in the 7 studies, including transient hip pain, soreness, and numbness.

Conclusion: Cooled radiofrequency procedure can significantly relieve pain and disability with no severe complications, and majority of patients are satisfied with this technique. Thus, it is safe and effective to use this procedure in managing patients with chronic SIJ pain. More high-quality and large-scale randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are required to validate our findings.

Limitations: The sample size of the included studies was small and various heterogeneity existed.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5944663PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/MD.0000000000009809DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

cooled radiofrequency
20
radiofrequency procedure
12
sij pain
12
efficacy safety
8
safety cooled
8
radiofrequency treating
8
chronic sacroiliac
8
sacroiliac joint
8
pain
6
cooled
5

Similar Publications

A compact and fast radio-frequency source for efficient Raman sideband cooling.

Rev Sci Instrum

December 2024

MOE Key Laboratory of Fundamental Physical Quantities Measurement, Hubei Key Laboratory of Gravitation and Quantum Physics, PGMF and School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1037 Luoyu Road, Wuhan 430074, People's Republic of China.

A compact and fast radio-frequency (RF) source developed for Raman sideband cooling (RSBC) in trapped ion and cold atom experiments is presented. The source is based on direct digital synthesizer, advanced real-time infrastructure for quantum physics, and field programmable gate array. The source has a frequency switching speed of 40 ns and can output continuous μs-level time sequences for RSBC.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Proactive esophageal cooling reduces injury during radiofrequency (RF) ablation of the left atrium (LA) for the treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF). New catheters are capable of higher wattage settings up to 90 W (very high-power short duration, vHPSD) for 4 s. Varying power and duration, however, does not eliminate the risk of thermal injury.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Knee osteoarthritis is a chronic degenerative disease associated with pain and decreased mobility that affects advanced-age individuals, thus causing further debilitation. Radiofrequency ablation can benefit patients who are not ideal candidates for surgical intervention and for whom conservative management has been unsatisfactory. Currently, radiofrequency ablation is performed using either ultrasonography or fluoroscopy.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Chronic shoulder pain caused by a rotator cuff tear is commonly treated with arthroscopic rotator cuff repair surgery (ARCR). However, ARCR may be associated with moderate-to-severe postoperative pain, and poorly controlled pain can result in delayed functional recovery and the development of frozen shoulder. Terminal sensory articular nerve radiofrequency ablation (RFA) has been shown to be clinically effective in patients with severe refractory shoulder pain from multiple etiologies.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

: Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is a degenerative joint disease typically managed with conservative treatments, such as anti-inflammatory medications and intra-articular hyaluronic acid injections; however, advanced cases may eventually require surgical intervention. Recently, cooled radiofrequency ablation (CRFA) has emerged as a novel treatment option for alleviating KOA-related pain by temporarily disabling pain-transmitting nerves. This study evaluated the short-term effects of CRFA on pain relief and walking ability in KOA patients, with a specific focus on functional improvements in walking capacity.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!