For many people, chronic knee pain from injury or osteoarthritis has just become a way of life. Especially for those patients who haven’t been able to find pain relief from medications or physical therapy, and those who don’t want to explore surgical options, it might seem like there is no option – until now! Discover relief with Radiofrequency Ablation for Chronic Knee Pain. Texas Pain Care team in Missouri City, Sugar Land, and Houston areas are experts at providing this pain relief option to their family of patients.
Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) uses radio waves to deliver a heat lesion around the genicular nerves. Genicular, meaning “relating to the knee,” nerves allow the knee to feel and move. This complex network of nerves include the superior medial, inferior medial, and superior lateral nerves. Because these nerves are responsible for carrying pain signals from the knee to the brain, If any of these nerves get damaged or irritated, knee pain can result.
What makes radiofrequency ablation so effective is that by heating or burning the nerves where the pain is felt, pain signals are not able to be transmitted to the brain through those nerves. This provides patients with enough relief to be able to comfortably utilize physical therapy and exercises so that they can hopefully manage their pain on a long-term scale.
RFA is an attractive option for patients who either aren’t a candidate for knee surgery, want to avoid having surgery, and who haven’t yet found relief from therapy methods and medications. If you suffer from any of the below conditions or have specific goals regarding your pain management options, talk to a Texas Pain Care specialist who is happy to determine if you’re a candidate for radiofrequency ablation:
The best way to determine if you’re a candidate is to speak with a pain management specialist who will review your medical history, perform a comprehensive exam including X-rays and possible MRI, and review your lifestyle needs and goals.
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RFA is a minimally invasive outpatient surgery that is most often used to treat osteoarthritis or pain from a knee injury. The doctor will sterilize the knee area and administer a topical anesthetic to numb the injection site, as well as a local anesthetic, which helps the patient to feel comfortable during the procedure. Using fluoroscopic guidance, the provider will insert a needle into the targeted area in the genicular nerves. To determine if the desired location is correct, a microelectrode is inserted through the needle, delivering a mild electrical current. If so, then a numbing agent is applied to the nerve before a heat-generating electrical current is applied, which creates a lesion that blocks the pain signals.
The entire procedure can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 90 minutes, depending on how many different areas of the knee are targeted. While this is not a major surgery, patients are instructed to relax for the remainder of the day, and avoid strenuous activity and heavy lifting for the next day or two. It’s normal to feel mild pain around the injection site for several days after the treatment, and it could take two to three weeks to feel complete pain relief. Most patients experience a relatively light and quick recovery period, with pain relief that lasts anywhere from nine months up to two years. Due to the fact that nerves regenerate, it’s possible for patients to receive more than one RFA treatment if pain persists or gets worse.
While there are risks associated with any medical treatment, the risks of radiofrequency ablation are very minimal and rare. Patients could experience pain, discomfort or infection at the injection site, and there is a chance of worsening pain symptoms. There are also very rare chances of nerve damage, paralysis, muscle weakness, and increased pain. The high success rate for ablation is due to the fact that a precise needle-positioning technique is used, which allows the provider to expertly target the intended nerves, and there is no incision, so healing time is minimal and complications are low.
Patients who experience chronic knee pain can benefit from radiofrequency ablation. Regardless if the pain is due to a medical condition or injury, ablation is a highly successful and minimally-invasive treatment option for those who experience:
Because the knee is a highly-used joint in the body that helps a person to enjoy an active and mobile lifestyle, there are a multitude of reasons a person might experience pain. Radiofrequency ablation can help patients comfortably enjoy pain relief while also taking advantage of physical therapy and possible lifestyle changes.
If you are tired of living with knee pain, please reach out to the Texas Pain Care team. Our pain management specialists in the Houston, Sugarland and Missouri City areas are experts at managing pain and offering our family of patients the minimally-invasive treatment options that help them to enjoy their desired quality of life. Regardless if you aren’t a candidate for knee surgery, don’t want to undergo knee surgery, want to avoid taking medications long-term, or haven’t been able to find relief from other therapy options, we are happy to discuss the benefits of radiofrequency ablation to help manage your knee pain. Please schedule an appointment today!
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