ArticleInterventional pain medicine2025
The effectiveness of cervical medial branch radiofrequency ablation using a three-tined electrode: A real-world cross-sectional 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 1 paper.
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.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
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Authors and funding
13 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Cervical medial branch radiofrequency ablation (CMBRFA) using conventional electrodes is a proven treatment for chronic cervical zygapophysial (facet) joint pain. More recently, multi-tined RFA technology has been adopted in clinical practice, warranting evaluation of treatment outcomes. Objectives: Evaluate the effectiveness of CMBRFA using a three-tined RFA electrode for the treatment of cervical facet joint pain in a real-world cohort. Methods: In this cross-sectional cohort study, electronic medical records of patients who underwent CMBRFA utilizing a three-tined RFA electrode at a single academic medical center between 2022 and 2024 were reviewed. Outcomes were collected at ≥6 months post-CMBRFA via standardized telephone survey, querying numerical rating scale (NRS) pain scores, patient global impression of change (PGIC) scores, and opioid use. The primary outcome was the proportion reporting ≥50 % NRS reduction. Secondary outcomes included ≥2-point NRS reduction, PGIC scores ≥6 (indicating at least "much improved"), and pre-versus post-CMBRFA opioid use. Potential predictors of treatment success were evaluated with multivariate Poisson regression analysis. Results: 66 patients were included. At mean follow-up of 16.3 ± 7.0 months, 51.5 % (95 %CI: 39.7-63.2) reported ≥50 % NRS reduction, 77.3 % (95 %CI: 65.8-85.7) experienced ≥2-point NRS reduction, and 63.6 % (95 %CI: 51.6-74.2) had PGIC ≥6. Opioid use was decreased significantly by 15.2 % (95 %CI: 5.0-25.3). Follow-up time and repeat CMBRFA were significantly associated with outcomes for PGIC. Conclusion: In this real-world cohort, we observed clinically meaningful improvements in neck pain (defined as ≥50 % NRS reduction from baseline) in 51.5 % of participants at an average of approximately 16 months after treatment with CMBRFA using a three-tined electrode.
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