• Seoyon Yang and Min Cheol Chang.
• Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Ewha Woman's University Seoul Hospital, Ewha Woman's University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
• Ann Palliat Med. 2020 Mar 1; 9 (2): 169-174.

BackgroundWe aimed to evaluate the effect of bipolar pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) in patients with chronic cervical radicular pain who were refractory to monopolar PRF and transforaminal epidural steroid injection (TFESI).MethodsTwenty patients with chronic cervical radicular pain who were unresponsive to monopolar PRF and TFESI were included and underwent bipolar PRF of their cervical dorsal root ganglion (DRG). Treatment outcomes were evaluated using the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) for cervical radicular pain before treatment and 1, 2, and 3 months post-treatment. Successful pain relief was defined as ≥50% reduction in the NRS score compared with the score prior to treatment. Furthermore, at 3 months post-treatment, patient satisfaction levels were evaluated; those with very good (score =7) or good (score =6) results were considered to be satisfied with the bipolar PRF procedure.ResultsCervical radicular pain was significantly reduced at 1, 2, and 3 months post-PRF (P<0.001). In addition, at 3 months post-PRF, half of the patients achieved a successful response and were satisfied with the treatment results.ConclusionsBipolar PRF on cervical DRG may be a good treatment option for managing refractory chronic cervical radicular pain.

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