• Johan Hambraeus, Kjerstin S Hambraeus, and Jan Persson.
• Smartkliniken Eques Indolor AB, Vallentuna, Sweden.
• Pain Med. 2018 May 1; 19 (5): 914-919.

ObjectiveTo describe a practical approach for the diagnosis and treatment of thoracic zygapophyseal joint pain and to present preliminary clinical data on the effects of this treatment approach on health-related quality of life.DesignAn observational study.SettingSpecialist outpatient pain clinic in northern Sweden.SubjectsPatients with long-term thoracic pain.MethodsWe describe a method of radiofrequency denervation of thoracic zygapophyseal joints. We compared health-related quality of life between patients who underwent radiofrequency denervation of thoracic zygapophyseal joints and patients who underwent radiofrequency denervation for lumbar and cervical zygapophyseal joint pain.ResultsTreatment according to the Spine Intervention Society Guidelines was performed on the lumbar region in 178 patients and in the cervical region in 55 patients. Another 82 patients were treated in the thoracic region with our proposed technique. A survival plot of improvements in health-related quality of life revealed that all three treatments were effective in 65% or more of patients. The improvement in health-related quality of life was maintained for 12 or more months after treatment in 47% to 51% of patients.ConclusionsOur results suggest that radiofrequency denervation of thoracic zygapophyseal joint pain is as effective as radiofrequency denervation, the standard treatment, for lumbar and cervical zygapophyseal joint pain. If these results can be confirmed by other centers, radiofrequency denervation is likely to become more widely available for the treatment of thoracic zygapophyseal joint pain.

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