Painful Osteoarthritis of the Knee
Conditions
Keywords
radio frequency treatment, genicular nerves, osteoarthritis of the knee
Brief summary
Pharmacological treatment of pain due to osteoarthritis of the knee often proves to be inadequate and/or cause intolerable side effects. Arthroplasty of the knee may offer a solution, but waiting lists may be long or certain patients may not be apt for a surgical intervention. Therefore an alternative pain treatment that is effective and has little side effects allowing to offer pain relief to those difficult to manage patients would be an added value in the therapeutic options. We studies the short and long-term effects of radio frequency treatment of the genicular nerves in patients with severe pain due to osteoarthritis of the knee.
Detailed description
Radio frequency treatment (RF) of the genicular nerves was found to be effective in a randomized controlled trial. Because of the blinding patients were allowed to continue pre-intervention pharmacological treatment, which may have interfered with the outcome. The short follow-up (12 weeks) does not allow drawing conclusion on the duration of the effect. We aimed at assessing the pain reducing effect of RF of the genicular nerves and the duration of the effect.
Interventions
PROCEDURERF treatment
the genicular nerves are identified with the help of landmarks, ultrasound and nerve stimulation. Once the needle is correctly placed high frequency current is passed through the probe during 90 seconds at 20 V with tip temperature put to 80°C.
RADIATIONradiofrequency ablation
DEVICEultrasound
Sponsors
Ziekenhuis Oost-Limburg
Hospital General de Jerez de la Frontera
Study design
Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* patients suffering from pain caused by osteoarthrosis of the knee joint * osteoarthrosis of the knee joint (grade 3-4 according to the Kellgren Lawrence classification) * pain of moderate to severe intensity (VAS≥5, on a 10-point scale) during \>3 months * pain resistant to conservative treatments
Exclusion criteria
* acute knee pain associated with radicular neuropathy or intermittent claudication, connective tissue diseases affecting the knee, serious neurologic or psychiatric disorders, mental deterioration impeding adequate communication or collaboration, injection with steroids or hyaluronic acids during the previous 3 months, anticoagulant medications, pacemakers, and prior electro-acupuncture treatment
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Pain reduction | 1, 6 and 12 months | Pain intensity is measured using a 10-point VAS score |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Global patient satisfaction | 1,6 and 12 months | Satisfaction is scored on a 4-point Likert scale: 1 (poor), 2 (average), 3 (good) and 4 (very good) |
| Improvement of quality of life | 1,6 and 12 months | evaluated using the Western Ontario and MacMaster Universities Index of Osteoarthrosis (WOMAC) |
Countries
Spain
Outcome results
None listed