• Sang Hoon Lee, Hyun Hee Choi, Eugene Yousik Roh, and Min Cheol Chang.
• Madiclinic Pain Management Center, Jeonju-si, South Korea; Korea University, College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
• Pain Physician. 2020 Jun 1; 23 (3): E265-E272.

BackgroundThe effect of pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) stimulation for alleviating cervical radicular pain has been demonstrated in several previous studies.ObjectivesWe aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of PRF with ultrasound (US) guidance in patients with chronic cervical radicular pain that was refractory to repeated transforaminal epidural steroid injections (TFESIs).Study DesignA prospective outcome study.SettingThe outpatient clinic of a single academic medical center.MethodsThis study included 49 patients with chronic cervical radicular pain, unresponsive to repeated TFESIs, and who underwent PRF stimulation under US guidance. Using US, a cannula was inserted toward the cervical spinal nerve. The pain intensity was evaluated using the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS-11) for cervical radicular pain at pretreatment and 1, 3, and 6 months posttreatment; and the Neck Disability Index (NDI) was used for evaluating functional disability before treatment and 6 months posttreatment. Successful pain relief was defined as >= 50% reduction in the NRS-11 score as compared with the score before treatment.ResultsCervical radicular pain was significantly reduced at 1, 3, and 6 months post-PRF (P < 0.001). At 6 months post-PRF, functional disability (NDI score) had significantly reduced, and 63.3% of the patients achieved successful pain relief.LimitationsThe small number of included patients and no long-term follow-up.ConclusionsPRF stimulation under the guidance of US is a potentially effective treatment method for managing refractory chronic cervical radicular pain.Key WordsUltrasound, pulsed radiofrequency, cervical radicular pain, chronic pain.

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