http://dx.doi.org/10.5535/arm.2011.35.6.826. INTRODUCTION. In a population of 100,000 persons, 83 will, on average, suffer from cervical radiculopathy every ...
Original Article Ann Rehabil Med 2011; 35: 826-832 pISSN: 2234-0645 • eISSN: 2234-0653 http://dx.doi.org/10.5535/arm.2011.35.6.826
Annals of Rehabilitation Medicine
Short-Term Effects of Pulsed Radiofrequency on Chronic Refractory Cervical Radicular Pain Gyu-Sik Choi, M.D., Sang-Ho Ahn, M.D., Ph.D., Yun-Woo Cho, M.D., Ph.D., Dong-Kyu Lee, M.D. Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Yeungnam University College of Medicine, Daegu 705-717, Korea
Objective To evaluate the short-term effectiveness of pulsed radiofrequency on the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) in patients with chronic refractory cervical radicular pain. Method Fifteen patients (13 males, 2 females; mean age, 55.9 years) with chronic radicular pain due to cervical disc herniation or foraminal stenosis refractory to active rehabilitative management, including transforaminal cervical epidural steroid injection and exercise, were selected. All patients received pulsed radiofrequency on the symptomatic cervical dorsal root ganglion and were carefully evaluated for neurologic deficits and side effects. The clinical outcomes were measured using a visual analogue scale (VAS) and a neck disability index (NDI) before treatment, one and three months after treatment. Successful pain relief was defined as a 50% or greater reduction in the VAS score as compared with the pre-treatment score. After three months, we categorized the patients’ satisfaction. Results The average VAS for radicular pain was reduced significantly from 5.3 at pretreatment to 2.5 at 3 months post-treatment (p
