Ex) Article Title, Author, Keywords
Ex) Article Title, Author, Keywords
Clinical Pain 2017; 16(2): 59-63
Published online December 31, 2017
Copyright © Korean Association of Pain Medicine.
Jae Hyeok Chang, M.D.
장재혁
Radiofrequency (RF) treatment has a long history in the management of chronic pain of various causes. RF thermocoagulation is used to create thermal lesions in the neural pathway to interrupt the transmission of pain. RF is applied through an electrode, with the formation of heat and an electric field around the electrode tip. Recently, the electric filed, rather than heat formation, is thought to be more important in its clinical effect. There is moderate suggesting it has an important role in the management of some spinal pains, such as cervical and lumbar zygapophyseal pain. As long as the necessary steps are followed and the correct precautions taken in performing a RF ablation, overall improvement should be noticed by the patient within 2 weeks. If studies of prospective, meta-analysis outcomes and long term effects are conducted, it is believed to play a good role in treating chronic spinal pain. More importantly, appropriate patient selection and understanding of the instruments and the mechanisms should precede the effects of RF techniques. (Clinical Pain 2017;16:59-63)
KeywordsRadiofrequency, Chronic pain, Zygapophyseal joint