Pain physician
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Comparative Study
Comparisons of Lesion Volumes and Shapes Produced by a Radiofrequency System with a Cooled, a Protruding, or a Monopolar Probe.
Radiofrequency (RF) ablation for denervation has been utilized for decades in chronic pain management. This relies on the proper targeting of the affected nerve which may be obtained by creating an ablation lesion with a shape and volume that optimizes targeting. Various systems designed to improve lesion size are available. These include cooling the active tip (cooled-RF) and protruding the RF electrode outside the active tip (PERF). ⋯ The results indicate that the lesion produced with a cooled-RF system (17 g, 4 mm tip) is significantly larger than that produced with either of the other systems trialed (18 g or 20 g, 10 mm active tip protruding electrode or 16 g, 18 g, or 20 g monopolar electrode). Interestingly, a 16 g, 10 mm active tip monopolar electrode produced a larger lesion than the one produced with the 18 g protruding electrode. Key words: Radiofrequency, ablation, lesion shape, lesion size, cooled-RF, protruding electrode RF, monopolar RF.
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Cervical disc disease is a common and occasionally disabling condition, occurring as a natural consequence of aging in the vast majority of the adult population. Percutaneous epidural neuroplasty (PEN) has been used to deliver highly concentrated drugs for chronic neck pain and to prevent scarring in cases refractory to conventional epidural blocks. However, the clinical course after PEN in cervical disc disease is not well-documented. ⋯ Cervical PEN was shown to be a safe and effective treatment for neck and arm pain in single-level disc disease during 12 months of follow-up. Key words: Neck pain, cervical disc disease, pain management, percutaneous epidural neuroplasty, adhesiolysis, clinical course.
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The ganglion impar is the first pelvic ganglion of the efferent sympathetic trunk that relays pelvic and perineal nociceptive messages and therefore constitutes a therapeutic target. ⋯ Repeated ganglion impar blocks allowed short-term reduction of pain intensity with a moderate intermediate-term effect. Ganglion impar appears to be a useful therapeutic target to block the nociceptive message by acting on sensitization phenomena.Key words: Pudendal neuralgia, impar block, pain, perineal, coccygodynia.