Radiofrequency Treatment for Chronic Knee Pain

Causes of knee pain are multifactorial, since we have multiple structures in the knee and it's surrounding, hence the treatment of different types knee pain is different. Chronic osteoarthritis (OA) pain of the knee is often not effectively managed with current non-pharmacological or pharmacological treatments. Fluoro or Ultrasound guided RadioFrequency (RF) ablation of genicular nerves is a therapeutic alternative for chronic knee pain. It offers a safe, effective, non surgical, minimally invasive alternative to knee replacement for patients who are either:

Not willing for surgery, or

Not fit for surgery due to other medical problems, or

Have persisting pain even after knee replacement.

Steroid interventions for severe back pain

Advantages of Radiofrequency Treatment include:

No requirement for hospital stay or prolonged rehabilitation.

Normal activities can generally be resumed soon after the procedure with little or no recovery time.

Less pain can lead to improved functionality and reduced medication requirements.

Lasting pain relief and a low complication rate.

The procedure is performed in two steps. In the first step, diagnostic local anaesthetic injections are performed close to the genicular nerves supplying the knee joint. If this produces good pain relief, then it is beneficial to proceed with radiofrequency treatment. The second step involves placing the radiofrequency needles in the same locations followed by the radiofrequency ablation of the pain-carrying nerves.