Efficacy of needle-placement technique in radiofrequency ablation for treatment of lumbar facet arthropathy

Efficacy of needle-placement technique in radiofrequency ablation for treatment of lumbar facet arthropathy Jeffrey T Loh,1 Andrea L Nicol,1 David Elashoff,2 F Michael Ferrante,1 1Department of Anesthesiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, 2Department of Biomathematics, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA Background: Many studies have assessed the efficacy of radiofrequency ablation to denervate the facet joint as an interventional means of treating axial low-back pain. In these studies, varying procedural techniques were utilized to ablate the nerves that innervate the facet joints. To date, no comparison studies have been performed to suggest superiority of one technique or even compare the prevalence of side effects and complications. Materials and methods: A retrospective chart review was performed on patients who underwent a lumbar facet denervation procedure. Each patient's chart was analyzed for treatment technique (early versus advanced Australian), preprocedural visual numeric scale (VNS) score, postprocedural VNS score, duration of pain relief, and complications. Results: Pre- and postprocedural VNS scores and change in VNS score between the two groups showed no significant differences. Patient-reported benefit and duration of relief was greater in the advanced Australian technique group (P