• Martina Bellini and Massimo Barbieri.
• Pain Management Unit, San Carlo Clinic, Paderno Dugnano (MI), Italy. Bellini_martina@libero.it.
• Anaesthesiol Intensive Ther. 2015 Jan 1;47(1):30-3.

BackgroundKnee osteoarthritis is a frequent cause of chronic knee pain. Therapeutic solutions include intra-articular injections with short-term pain relief and surgical therapy. Radiofrequency (RF) of genicular nerves has been previously reported with varying success. Cooling tissue adjacent to the electrode (cooled RF) increases the radius of lesion. We present here the first retrospective data on pain relief and changes in function after such cooled RF denervation.MethodsWe reviewed the records of nine patients with chronic knee pain who underwent cooled RF of genicular nerves. Visual analogue scale (VAS) and Western Ontario McMaster Universities OA index (WOMAC) were analysed.ResultsWe observed an improvement in VAS pain scores 2 ± 0.5 at one month, 2.3 ± 0.7 at three months, 2.1 ± 0.5 at six months, and 2.2 ± 0.2 at 12 months after the procedure, and WOMAC score 20 ± 2, at one month, 22 ± 0.5 at three months, 21 ± 1.7 at six months, and 20 ± 1.0 at 12 months.ConclusionThe majority of patients with chronic knee pain experienced a clinically relevant degree of pain relief and improved function following cooled RF of genicular nerves at one, three, six and 12 months follow-up.

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