A new outpatient interventional radiology procedure provides long-lasting pain relief for people suffering from moderate to severe arthritis in their hip and shoulder joints, according to new research published on Monday.
The treatment—known as cooled radiofrequency ablation (c-RFA)—involves placing needles around the main sensory nerves in specific joints to direct low-grade current in those areas and slow pain signals to the brain.
When tested in 23 patients, each reported significantly less pain three months after their injection, with no procedure-related complications reported during the research.
Study author Felix M. Gonzalez, MD, said the novel approach may be a welcomed option for osteoarthritis sufferers stuck with lackluster options such as surgery or ineffective corticosteroids.
“Usually, over time patients become less responsive to these injections,” Gonzalez, with Emory University School of Medicine’s Radiology Department, said in a statement. “The first anesthetic-corticosteroid injection may provide six months of pain relief, the second may last three months, and the third may last only a month. Gradually, the degree of pain relief becomes nonsignificant.”
With this in mind, the group tested c-RFA in 12 people with shoulder pain and 11 with hip pain who had become unresponsive to anti-inflammatory pain control and steroid injections. Each underwent treatment two to three weeks after they received diagnostic anesthetic nerve blocks.
After participants completed surveys gauging their function and pain levels, those with shoulder discomfort reported 85% less pain and a nearly 74% increase in function. Similarly, patients with hip injuries disclosed a 70% reduction in pain, with a nearly 66% gain in function.
This interventional procedure can also limit the risk of opiate addiction, and may be useful for treating trauma, amputations and metastatic cancer patients, the authors noted.
“This procedure is a last resort for patients who are unable to be physically active and may develop a narcotic addiction,” Gonzalez said. “Until recently, there was no other alternative for the treatment of patients at the end of the arthritis pathway who do not qualify for surgery or are unwilling to undergo a surgical procedure.”
Matt joined Chicago’s TriMed team in 2018 covering all areas of health imaging after two years reporting on the hospital field. He holds a bachelor’s in English from UIC, and enjoys a good cup of coffee and an interesting documentary.