• Beshoy Nabil Fam, Ghada Gamal El-Din El-Sayed, Raafat Mahfouz Reyad, and Ikramy Mansour.
• Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Management, Nasser Institute for Research and Treatment, Cairo, Egypt.
• Saudi J Anaesth. 2018 Apr 1; 12 (2): 227-234.

BackgroundBreast cancer is a common neoplastic tumor in women, and the postmastectomy pain syndrome has been reported frequently after surgical treatment. The injury of the intercostobrachial nerve is considered the major cause of this type of pain.PurposeEvaluation of efficacy and safety of pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) and steroid injection on the 2nd and 3rd thoracic (T2 and T3) dorsal root ganglions (DRGs) for intercostobrachial neuralgia (ICBN) postmastectomy.Patients And MethodsThis study was conducted on 100 patients with ICBN postmastectomy. The PRF waves were applied for 120 s twice on T2 and T3 DRGs then 1 ml of 4 mg dexamethasone and 1 ml of bupivacaine 0.25% were injected at each level then the technique was repeated three times 1 week apart for each patient.ResultsAfter 6 months from the latest intervention, the mean of visual analog scale dropped from 7.48 to 4.7 (P = 0.005712) and the mean of the quality of life scale improved to 6.88 after being 4.66 (P < 0.00001) before the intervention and 64.68% of the patients decided that they would certainly repeat the procedure if they could go back in time and 66.64% would certainly recommend the same procedure to a family member. The analgesics consumption decreased mainly in the 1st month but increased again after 6 months (not significant). No serious complications were recorded.ConclusionsPRF and steroid injection on T2 and T3 DRGs assumed an effective and safe method for ICBN postmastectomy treatment.

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