Summary of retrospective studies on the effectiveness of the cooled radiofrequency treatment in patients with chronic knee pain
| Author, year | Study design | Patient | Groups | Outcome measures | Results | Complications | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Menzies and Hawkins, 2015 [38] | Case report | Failed TKA | n = 1 | OKS | Pain relief and better knee function up to 9 and 6 mo for the left and right knees, respectively. Significant improvement in QOL, less reliance on analgesics, and ability to walk more freely, including on stairs. | Not reported | |
| Bellini and Barbieri, 2015 [50] | Case series | Chronic knee pain (OA) | n = 9 | VAS, WOMAC for 12 mo | Improvement in VAS pain scores: 2 ± 0.5 at 1 mo, 2.3 ± 0.7 at 3 mo, 2.1 ± 0.5 at 6 mo, and 2.2 ± 0.2 at 12 mo after the procedure and WOMAC scores: 20 ± 2 at 1 mo, 22 ± 0.5 at 3 mo, 21 ± 1.7 at 6 mo, and 20 ± 1.0 at 12 mo. | No adverse event | |
| Rojhani et al., 2017 [52] | Case report | End-stage knee OA | n = 1 | NRS, SF-36, WOMAC | NRS were 0, and WOMAC scores were 22 and 26 at 6 and 12 wk, respectively. It markedly improved function and enhanced QOL. | No adverse event | |
| Kapural et al., 2019 [53] | Retrospective cohort | Chronic knee pain from OA and after TKA | n = 183 | VAS, responders |
Average pain reduction: 8.5 → 4.2 > 50% pain reduction: 65% (for 12.5 mo) ≥ 2 of VAS decrease: 77% Mean duration of > 50% reduction: 12.5 mo No decrease in opioid use |
No adverse event | |
| Eshraghi et al., 2021 [57] | Retrospective analysis | Chronic knee pain (OA) | n = 104 | PDI score, NPRS, MED at 3 mo | After CRFA, 67.3% of patients had a decrease in PDI scores, with a mean reduction of 31.5%; 27.9% had no change, and 4.8% had an increase; 93% of patients had a reduction in NPRS scores, and 50% of patients had a pain score reduction of 2.2 points. The MED did not change in 80.7% of patients. | No adverse event | |
| Kocayiğit et al., 2021 [58] | Retrospective | Chronic knee pain (OA) |
CRFA (n = 29) RFA (n = 34) |
VAS and WOMAC at 0, 2, 6, and 12 wk | The mean VAS scores in the CRFA and RFA groups were 8.97 vs. 8.44 at baseline and 4.79 vs. 4.94 at 12 wk. The WOMAC scores were 67.14 vs. 62.03 at baseline and 45.14 vs. 38.21 at 12 wk. However, there was no statistically significant difference between the two techniques. | One hematoma | No description of complications is the CRFA or RFA group. |
| Wu et al., 2022 [59] | Retrospective cohort | Chronic knee pain (OA) |
CRFA (n = 104) RFA (n = 104) |
Responder (reduction in NRS ≥ 2) for 12 mo (1, 3, 6, 9, and 12), duration of relief, and TKA within 1 yr of treatment | Both RFA and CRFA effectively reduced NRS pain scores in most patients. RFA was associated with a higher probability of treatment success and a greater degree of pain relief at 1 mo after the procedure compared to CRFA. | One cellulitis in the RFA group | |
| Kapural et al., 2022 [61] | Retrospective, single center | Chronic knee pain (OA) |
RFA (n = 170) CRFA (n = 170) |
VAS, duration of pain reduction | VAS at 4–6 wk decreased to 5.07 ± 2.8 for RFA and 4.26 ± 3.2 for CRFA. The difference was profound and significantly better in favor of CRFA as the duration of reduction of pain scores by greater than 50% was 2.6 mo for RFA and 11.1 mo for CRFA. Only 15 patients (8.8%) continued to receive > 50% of pain relief in RFA at 12 mo, as compared to 78 (46%) at 12 mo for CRFA. | Not reported | |
| Caragea et al., 2023 [64] | Cohort study | Chronic knee pain (OA) |
CRFA (n = 129) RFA (n = 5) |
NRS, proportion of treatment success, PGIC |
Mean follow-up time: 23.3 mo ≥ 50% NRS reduction: 47.8% (n = 64) 2-point NRS score reduction: 61.2% (n = 82) "Much improved" on the PGIC: 59.0% (n = 79) |
No adverse event |
CRFA: cooled radiofrequency ablation, MED: morphine equivalent dose, NPRS: numerical pain rating scale, NRS: numerical rating scale, OA: osteoarthritis, OKS: Oxford Knee Score, PDI: pain disability index, PGIC: patient global impression of change, QOL: quality of life, RFA: radiofrequency ablation, SF-36: 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey, TKA: total knee arthroplasty, VAS: visual analogue scale, WOMAC: Western Ontario McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index.