Retrospective analysis of the efficiency of radiofrequency ablation of the genicular nerves on chronic knee osteoarthritis pain and function loss

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common disorder that causes patients to experience continuous pain while doing their daily activities and therefore causes serious disability and decrease quality of life in patients. In this study, radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of genicular nerves in 46 patients with chronıc knee pain due to osteoarthritis were investigated retrospectively in Uludag University, Faculty of Medicine, Clinic of Algology. After the approval of the Ethics Committee of Uludağ University Faculty of Medicine, the visual analogue scale (VAS) and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) scores were recorded in the files of patients who underwent RFA interventions for chronic knee pain. When the data of the patients were evaluated statistically, the change in the postoperative 1st and 3rd months VAS and WOMAC scores were significantly decreased in comparison to the preoperative values of the patients who underwent RFA in the genicular nerves. In conclusion, we think that RFA application to the genicular nerves resulted in pain intensty of in chronic knee pain due to osteoarthritis, improves the quality of life by increasing their physical function. There were no serious complication related to RFA intervention,thuse this procedure was found to be safe.