ArticleInterventional pain medicine2025
The effectiveness of cervical medial branch radiofrequency neurotomy using a perpendicular approach with a three-tined probe: A single-arm, retrospective cohort study.
Article in Interventional pain medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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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.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- The effectiveness of cervical medial branch radiofrequency ablation using a three-tined electrode: A real-world cross-sectional cohort study.Interventional pain medicine · 2025Article
- Evaluating prognostic block selection criteria in cervical medial branch radiofrequency neurotomy: A retrospective cohort study.Interventional pain medicine · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Cervical medial branch radiofrequency neurotomy (CMBRFN) with a parallel approach has been proven to be an effective treatment for zygapophyseal joint-mediated cervical pain. Technological advancements in radiofrequency probe design have allowed for a perpendicular approach to electrode placement. However, the effectiveness of the perpendicular approach remains to be fully understood. Objectives: Evaluate the effectiveness of CMBRFN with a perpendicular approach (pCMBRFN) in patients with confirmed zygapophyseal joint-mediated cervical pain. Methods: This single-arm, retrospective cohort study included patients identified between 2016 and 2022 who underwent pCMBRFN after demonstrating ≥80 % pain relief with two consecutive diagnostic medial branch blocks (MBB). Primary outcomes were ≥50 % patient-reported numeric rating scale (NRS) pain relief and minimal clinically important difference (MCID) on the Pain Disability Quality-Of-Life Questionnaire-Spine (PDQQ-S) at 3 months post-procedure. Secondary outcomes were mean patient-reported retrospective percentage pain relief and duration of relief after a successful pCMBRFN in individuals who presented for repeat pCMBRFN upon return of their symptoms. Results: A total of 52 participants (63.5 % female; mean age 55.9 ± 10.9 years; mean BMI 26.8 ± 5.2 kg/m Conclusion: Within this cohort, pCMBRFN demonstrated effectiveness by reducing pain and disability in over 65 % of patients with confirmed cervical zygapophyseal joint-mediated pain at 3 months. Patients with successful treatment outcomes whose index symptoms eventually returned reported an average pain reduction of 86 % lasting approximately 9 months. Larger prospective studies with long-term follow-up are needed to confirm these results.
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