Retrospective review of the patients with lumbar facet joint syndrome which were treated with radiofrequency thermocoagulation

Purpose: Different methods are being used according to an algorithm in the these methods. The basis of this method is producing damage with heat generated at the tip of an electrode. In this study, we aimed a retrospective review of the patients with Lumbar Facet Joint Syndrome which were treated with radiofrequency thermocoagulation.Materials and Methods: The patient files in the pain clinic were searched and files of the patients with lumbar facet joint syndrome who were treated with radiofrequency thermocoagulation were selected. The files were separated into groups according to two different frequently applied treatments: the patients which were treated with 42 °C 240 s pulsed RF were considered as group 1, while 80 °C 120 s conventional RF as group 2. The age; the gender; if present, the history of previous trauma; if exists, previous treatments; the VAS and MOI scores prior to the treatment; applied treatment (pulsed RF, conventional RF); the treatment results at the 1st and 3rd months (VAS and MOI scores, whether any needed additional analgesia) of the patient were recorded.Results: It has been determined that demographic findings of these groups were similar and there are no statistically significant differences between them. It has been seen that 15% of the cases have trauma history, 92.5% of the cases have taken medicine treatment before the procedure, and 30% of the cases have taken physical treatment. When VAS and MOI scores before the procedure were compared with those one and three months after the procedure, the scores were found to be different meaninigfully. There was not much difference between Group I and Group II at the first month, but there were statistically meaningful differences at the third month. While 65% of the cases needed additional analgesia at the first month, this rate was 77.5% at the third month.Conclusion: It has been determined that; both radiofrequency applications are efficient in the treatment of low back pain, but the positive effect of conventional radiofrequency lasts longer when compared with the pulsed radiofrequency application.Key words: Facet joint syndrome, convantional radiofrequency, pulsed radiofrequency.