ReviewCurrent pain and headache reports2026
Cooled Radiofrequency Ablation of Cervical Nerves for Treating Cervicogenic Headache.
Review in Current pain and headache reports, 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
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundCervical facet arthropathy, a degenerative condition of the facet joints, is a leading cause of cervicogenic headaches. First-line therapies such as physical therapy and pharmacology often fail to provide lasting relief. Cooled radiofrequency ablation (RFA) offers a minimally invasive alternative with potential for significant pain reduction.
objectiveThis retrospective study evaluates the efficacy and safety of cooled RFA for patients with cervicogenic headaches.
methodsThis retrospective analysis consisted of 232 procedures from 137 patients who received cooled RFA of the third occipital nerve (TON) and C3 with/out C4, with/out C5 medial branches, between 2015 and 2025 at UW Health. Data collected include pre- and post-operative pain scores assessed through the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), duration of pain relief, and adverse events. Paired t-tests were used to analyze the data, with p-values ≤ 0.05 considered statistically significant.
resultsA significant reduction in VAS pain scores was observed (p < 0.001). Pain improvement occurred in 62.2% of procedures, with 18.4% achieving complete remission and 19.4% showing no change in pain. Among effective procedures, the average pain reduction was 58.5 ± 32.2%, with a mean duration of 10.1 ± 8.3 months. Twelve procedures were reported to have self-limiting adverse events that resolved within five months.
conclusionsCooled RFA of cervical medial branches provides effective, durable, and safe pain relief for chronic neck pain and cervicogenic headaches refractory to conservative care. Broader clinical use may benefit from standardized treatment protocols and further study of long-term outcomes.
Indexed as
Identifiers
42142191What 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.