ArticleRegional anesthesia and pain medicine2019
Medial branch radiofrequency ablation outcomes in patients with centralized pain.
Article in Regional anesthesia and pain medicine, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Mixed pain phenotypes in musculoskeletal disorders: mechanisms and management.Nature reviews. Rheumatology · 2026Review
- Clinical Outcomes and Factors Associated with Response to Fluoroscopy-Guided Cervical Medial Branch Pulsed Radiofrequency in Chronic Cervical Facet Joint Pain: A Retrospective Cohort Study.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2026Article
- At-Home Morning Bright Light Treatment for Chronic Nociplastic Pain: Protocol for a Randomized Clinical Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2025Article
- Factors predicting outcomes from chronic pain management interventions.BMJ medicine · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
objectivesWe hypothesized that patients with characteristics of centralized pain (fibromyalgia (FM)-like phenotype) would be less likely to respond to radiofrequency ablation (RFA), which may explain some of the failures of this peripherally directed therapy.
methodsWe conducted a prospective, observational study of patients undergoing RFA using a number of validated self-report measures of pain, mood and function. The 2011 Fibromyalgia Survey Criteria were used to assess for symptoms of centralized pain and was the primary predictor of interest. We constructed multivariable linear regression models to evaluate covariates independently associated with change in pain 3 months after RFA.
results141 patients scheduled for medial branch blocks were enrolled in the study; 55 underwent RFA (51 with complete 3 months' follow-up). Patients with higher FM scores had less improvement in overall body pain; however, this was not statistically significant (adjusted mean change in pain FM+0.41, FM-1.11, p=0.396). In a secondary analysis, the FM score was not associated with change in back pain (p=0.720), with both groups improving equally. This cohort also reported significant improvement in anxiety, physical function, catastrophizing, and sleep disturbance at 3 months after RFA.
conclusionsAlthough patients with high baseline centralized pain exhibited less improvement in overall pain, this trend was not statistically significant, possibly due to insufficient power. The same trend was not seen with change in spine pain with both groups improving equally. Centralized pain patients may have less improvement in overall pain but may have equal improvement in their site-specific pain levels after localized interventions.
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