Trial reportPain medicine (Malden, Mass.)2023
A pragmatic randomized prospective trial of cooled radiofrequency ablation of the medial branch nerves versus facet joint injection of corticosteroid for the treatment of lumbar facet syndrome: 12 month outcomes.
Trial report in Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.), 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03614793 (A Prospective Trial of Cooled Radiofrequency Ablation of Medial Branch Nerves Versus Facet Joint Injection of Corticosteroid for the Treatment of Lumbar Facet Syndrome), which is not on this map. Cited by 11 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
A Prospective Trial of Cooled Radiofrequency Ablation of Medial Branch Nerves Versus Facet Joint Injection of Corticosteroid for the Treatment of Lumbar Facet Syndrome
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- Current evidence on radiofrequency denervation for chronic low back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ open · 2026Pooled it
- Efficacy of Steroid Facet Joint Injections for Axial Spinal Pain and Post Radiofrequency Ablation Neuritis: A Systematic Review.Current pain and headache reports · 2025Pooled it
- Fluoroscopy-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound neurotomy of the lumbar zygapophyseal joints: a prospective, open-label study.Regional anesthesia and pain medicine · 2025Trial
- Observations from the RESET clinical trial: A post-hoc per protocol analysis of clinical outcomes with percutaneous 60-day medial branch PNS in chronic low back pain.Interventional pain medicine · 2026Article
- Efficacy of endoscopic dorsal medial branch radiofrequency ablation combined with manual therapy for chronic lumbar facet joint pain.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciences · 2026Article
- The effectiveness of lumbar medial branch radiofrequency ablation using a three-tined electrode: A real-world cross-sectional cohort study.Interventional pain medicine · 2025Article
- A retrospective single arm cohort study evaluating the efficacy of lumbar medial branch radiofrequency ablation using a multi-tined probe and perpendicular approach.Interventional pain medicine · 2025Article
- Effectiveness of a Facet Joint Block Versus a Medial Branch Block in Spinal Pain Management: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Neurospine · 2025Article
- Lumbar Facet Joint Disease: What, Why, and When?Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- The effect of lumbar medial branch radiofrequency neurotomy on cobb angle progression in individuals with adult scoliosis compared to natural history: A cross-sectional study.Interventional pain medicine · 2024Article
- Radiofrequency vs Steroid Injections for Spinal Facet and Sacroiliac Joint Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of pain research · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundLumbar medial branch radiofrequency ablation (LRFA) and intraarticular facet steroid injections (FJI) are commonly performed for recalcitrant facet joint-mediated pain. However, no study has compared clinical outcomes of the two treatments in patients selected using dual medial branch blocks (MBBs) with an 80% relief threshold.
objectiveCompare the effectiveness of cooled LRFA (C-LRFA) to FIJ as assessed by pain and functional improvements.
designProspective randomized comparative trial.
methodsPatients with dual MBB-confirmed facet joint-mediated pain were randomized to receive C-LRFA or FIJ. Outcomes were assessed at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months. The primary outcome was ≥50% improvement in numerical pain rating scale (NPRS) score at 3 months. Secondary outcomes included ≥30% Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) improvement and Patient Global Impression of Chance (PGIC) ≥6 points, among others. Data were analyzed using contingency tables and mixed-effects logistic regression models.
resultsOf 1128 patients screened, 32 met eligibility criteria, were randomized, and received their allocated study treatment. In total, 20 (62.5%) and 12 (37.5%) participants received C-LRFA and FIJ, respectively. In the C-LRFA group, 70% (95% CI 48-85), 55% (95% CI 34-74), and 45% (95% CI 26-66) of participants met the NPRS responder definition, compared to 25% (95%CI 9-53), 25% (95% CI 9-53), and 17% (95% CI 5-45) in the FJI group at 3, 6, and 12 months, respectively (P = .014 at 3 months). The PGIC responder proportion was higher in the C-LRFA compared to FJI group at 3 and 6 months (P < .05).
conclusionsC-LRFA demonstrated superior success rates compared to FJI across pain and functional outcome domains. TRIAL REGISTRATION DETAILS: ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03614793); August 3, 2018.
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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.