Regional anesthesia and pain medicine
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Mar 2014
ReviewPulsed radiofrequency: a review of the basic science as applied to the pathophysiology of radicular pain: a call for clinical translation.
Radicular pain is an important health care problem, with only limited evidence-based treatments available. Treatment selection should ideally target documented pathophysiological pathways. In herniated discs, a sequence in the inflammatory cascade can be observed that initiates and maintains increased nociceptive signal input. ⋯ Pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) is considered an option in treatment of radicular pain. To understand and increase the efficiency of PRF interventional treatments in radicular pain, both in vitro and in vivo studies aiming at elucidating part of the mechanism of action of PRF are described. Potential factors that may improve the efficacy of PRF treatment in radicular pain are discussed.