Trial reportMedicine2017
Comparison between bipolar pulsed radiofrequency and monopolar pulsed radiofrequency in chronic lumbosacral radicular pain: A randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in Medicine, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 39 citations in OpenAlex.
- Current evidence on radiofrequency denervation for chronic low back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ open · 2026Pooled it
- Efficacy and safety of pulsed radiofrequency as a method of dorsal root ganglia stimulation for treatment of non-neuropathic pain: a systematic review.BMC anesthesiology · 2020Pooled it
- Comparison of Pain and Quality-of-Life Outcomes Following Bipolar Versus Monopolar Pulsed Radiofrequency Treatment for Chronic Lumbosacral Radicular Pain: An Observational Study.Pain practice : the official journal of World Institute of Pain · 2026Observational
- Duration Dependent Outcomes of Combined Dorsal Root Ganglion Pulsed Radiofrequency and Epidural Steroid Injection in Chronic Lumbosacral Radicular Pain.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Efficacy of pulsed radiofrequency stimulation in patients with chronic pain: a narrative review.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Transforaminal Steroid Injection After Dorsal Root Ganglion Pulsed Radiofrequency (DRG-PRF): Impact on Pain Intensity and Disability.Pain and therapy · 2024Article
- Novel Ultrasound-Guided Cervical Sympathetic Chain Pulsed Radiofrequency for Subacute Herpes Zoster Neuralgia.Journal of pain research · 2024Article
- The treatment of persistent spinal pain syndrome with epidural pulsed radiofrequency: improvement of the technique.Frontiers in neurology · 2023Article
- Dorsal root ganglion pulsed radiofrequency using bipolar technology in patients with lumbosacral radicular pain duration ≥ 2 years.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2022Article
- A Literature Review of Dorsal Root Entry Zone Complex (DREZC) Lesions: Integration of Translational Data for an Evolution to More Accurate Nomenclature.Journal of pain research · 2021Review
- Effect of intradiscal pulsed radiofrequency on refractory chronic discogenic neck pain: A case report.Medicine · 2018Article
- Effect of bipolar pulsed radiofrequency on refractory chronic cervical radicular pain: A report of two cases.Medicine · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundChronic lumbosacral radicular pain is a challenging medical problem with respect to therapeutic management. Many patients with lumbosacral radicular pain complain of persistent leg pain after transforaminal epidural steroid injection. Nowadays, pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) stimulation on the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) is widely used for controlling lumbosacral radicular pain.
methodsWe evaluated the effect of bipolar PRF on the DRG for the management of lumbosacral radicular pain. In addition, we compared the effect of bipolar PRF to monopolar PRF. Fifty patients with chronic lumbosacral radicular pain were included in the study and randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups, the bipolar or monopolar PRF group (n = 25 per group). Pain intensity was evaluated using a numeric rating scale (NRS) at pretreatment, and 1, 2, and 3 months after treatment.
resultsWhen compared to the pretreatment NRS scores, patients in both groups showed a significant decrease in NRS scores at 1, 2, and 3 months after treatment. Reductions in the NRS scores over time were significantly larger in the bipolar PRF group. Three months after treatment, 19 patients (76.0%) in the bipolar PRF group and 12 patients (48.0%) in the monopolar PRF group reported successful pain relief (pain relief of ≥50%).
conclusionThe use of bipolar PRF on the DRG can be an effective and safe interventional technique for chronic refractory lumbosacral radiculopathy, particularly in patients whose pain are refractory to epidural steroid injection or monopolar PRF stimulation.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.