ArticlePain and therapy2026
Outcomes of Thermal Radiofrequency Ablation of Lumbar Medial Branches as Treatment for Chronic Low Back Pain.
Article in Pain and therapy, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionChronic pain, defined as pain that persists for longer than 3 months or recurs, is a significant health and economic burden in the USA associated with substantial healthcare costs and lost productivity. Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a minimally invasive procedure utilizing radiofrequency probes to provide precise thermal energy to targeted nociceptive pathways, thereby providing pain relief. This study examines whether patients undergoing RFA for chronic low back pain due to lumbar facet arthropathy experience decreased pain scores, longer pain relief, and greater pain reduction.
methodsThis retrospective study analyzed data from UW-Health Electronic Medical Records (EMR) on lumbar RFA procedures performed between 2015 and April 2024. Collected patient data included diagnosis, pre-and postoperative pain scores, duration of relief, age, sex, and BMI. Pain scores were analyzed using a two-tailed paired t test; p ≤ 0.05 was considered significant.
resultsA total of 195 lumbar RFA procedures were reviewed; 26 were excluded due to absent pre- or post-op pain scores, and four were excluded due to weekly lidocaine infusions between their procedure and reporting of their post-op score. A total of 148 patients were included, comprising of 95 women and 53 men, with an average age of 57.39 ± 12.24 years and a BMI of 32.24 ± 8.11. The average pre- and post-procedure VAS pain scores were 6.42 (6.42 ± 1.80, n = 165) and 3.61 (3.61 ± 2.37, n = 165), respectively. The difference between pre- and post-RFA was statistically significant (p < 0.0001). Improvement of pain symptoms was reported in 87.88% (n = 145) of patients, 6.67% (n = 11) of patients reported complete pain remission, 6.67% (n = 11) of patients reported no change, and 7.88% (n = 13) of patients reported worsening symptoms.
conclusionThis study supports the effectiveness of thermal RFA as a minimally invasive option for managing chronic lower back pain caused by lumbar facet arthropathy unresponsive to conventional treatments.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.