ReviewFrontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland)2025
Efficacy of pulsed radiofrequency stimulation in patients with chronic pain: a narrative review.
Review in Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- Predictors of Treatment Success Following Pulsed Radiofrequency of the Lumbar Dorsal Root Ganglion: A Multivariable Prediction Model with Clinical Nomogram.Current pain and headache reports · 2026Review
- Article
- Effectiveness of Pulsed Radiofrequency of the Greater Occipital Nerve in Cervical Myofascial Pain Syndrome: A Retrospective Observational Study.Pain research & management · 2026Observational
- CT-guided pulsed radiofrequency of sacral and pudendal nerves for herpes zoster-related neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction in male patients: a retrospective study.Frontiers in neurology · 2026Article
- Improvement of occipital neuralgia by pulsed radiofrequency of the greater occipital nerve combined with local magnesium sulfate injection: a randomized controlled study.Frontiers in physiology · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Objectives: The review aimed to evaluate the efficacy of pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) in treating chronic pain by analyzing recent literature. Study design: This is a narrative review of relevant articles on the effectiveness of PRF for chronic pain. Methods: Search for papers published between November 2014 and November 2024 in the PubMed database that use PRF to treat chronic pain. We used "Pulsed radiofrequency, PRF, Pulsed RF for Pain, chronic pain, neuropathic pain, cancer pain, and osteoarthritis pain" as search terms. Inclusion criteria are as follows: (1) Patients are clearly diagnosed with chronic pain according to the standards of the International Association for the Study of Pain; (2) Pulsed radiofrequency is used to treat chronic pain; (3) Follow-up assessments are conducted to evaluate the degree of pain relief after PRF treatment; (4) Review articles and articles not related to the treatment of chronic pain are excluded. Results: Preliminary searches yielded 368 relevant articles. After reviewing the titles and abstracts and evaluating the full texts, we ultimately included 80 articles. These articles cover research on pulsed radiofrequency treatment for various chronic pain conditions, including neuropathic pain, osteoarthritis pain, and cancer pain. The study types are diverse, including randomized controlled trials, cohort studies, and case reports. The publication dates of the articles range from 2014 to 2024, ensuring the timeliness and comprehensiveness of the research findings, which reflect the latest advancements and outcomes in the field of pulsed radiofrequency treatment for chronic pain. Limitations: This review did not include studies indexed in databases other than PubMed. Conclusion: This article reviews the research progress of pulsed radiofrequency technology in the field of chronic pain treatment. By searching and analyzing relevant literature from recent years, it summarizes the research findings on the mechanisms of PRF in treating chronic pain, its clinical applications, efficacy evaluation, and safety, and discusses future research directions. This is helpful for clinical physicians to develop more scientific treatment plans when managing chronic pain patients.
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Registered trials
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.