CT-Guided Radiofrequency Ablation Targeting the Herniation Edge of the Cervical Disc for the Treatment of Neck Pain: A Retrospective Study.

Introduction: Sinuvertebral nerve overactivation is one of the mechanisms of neck pain caused by cervical disc herniation. Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of sinuvertebral nerves has shown efficacy for the treatment of discogenic low back pain. However, relatively few studies evaluated the efficacy of RFA of sinuvertebral nerves for the treatment of chronic neck pain caused by cervical disc herniation.

Methods: Clinical data were retrospectively collected from 168 patients diagnosed with cervical disc herniated neck pain from January 1, 2019, to September 1, 2022, who were treated with computed tomography (CT)-guided cervical disc RFA of at the Pain Medicine Center of Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital. A 22-G RFA needle (Inomed, Emmendingen, Germany) was inserted between the carotid artery and trachea to the intervertebral disc under the direction of CT the scanner. Depending on the position of the protruding nucleus pulposus or the rupture of the annulus fibrosus, the needle was inserted into the posterior side of the intervertebral disc until the tip of the needle reached the target position. The numeric rating scale (NRS) score, pain relief and appearance of complications after RFA were evaluated.

Results: A total of 168 patients underwent CT-guided RFA for cervical disc herniation. The average duration of pain was 67.07 ± 70.42 months. At 6 months of follow-up, the median preoperative NRS score decreased significantly from preoperative 5.41 ± 1.08 to postoperative 1.341 ± 1.25 at 1 month, 1.4 ± 1.38 at 3 months and 1.72 ± 1.41 at 6 months after RFA (p < 0.01). The numbers of patients with ≥ 50% of their neck pain relieved were 84% (141/168), 87% (147/168), 87% (147/168) and 79% (133/168) at 1 day, 1 month, 3 months and 6 months after RFA, respectively. No serious complications related to treatment or long-term complications were observed.

Conclusions: This study highlights that CT-guided RFA targeting the edge of cervical disc herniation to destroy the sinuvertebral nerves can effectively relieve neck pain, and the computed tomography (CT)-guided RFA treatment strategy has the advantages of having few complications.