If you suffer from persistent low back pain, you may be able to get relief from a procedure called radiofrequency ablation (RFA).
Depending on what’s causing the pain, RFA can be a good solution when the usual treatments, like medication and physical therapy, aren’t working.
RFA is a procedure that essentially prevents the nerves in your back from sending pain signals to your brain. It’s used for people whose pain is coming from a facet joint. These are the joints that connect the vertebrae in your back. Several conditions, including spinal stenosis and a herniated disc, can cause facet joint pain.
Before you have radiofrequency ablation, your doctor will test whether you’re a good candidate by giving you a facet block. This is an injection of an anesthetic-steroid combination that helps temporarily reduce pain and inflammation. If you respond well to that treatment, then RFA may be the next step.
Here’s what happens during RFA:
1. Your doctor will give you a local anesthetic to numb the area and may also give you medicine to help you relax. But you will be awake during the procedure.
2. Using fluoroscopy, which is a type of X-ray guidance, your doctor will insert a small radiofrequency needle near the nerves that are connected to facet joint.
3. Next, your doctor will send a light electrical pulse through the needle to check that it is positioned by the correct nerve and is safely away from other nerves. If it’s in the correct place, this pulse will briefly re-create the pain you’ve been experiencing and cause a muscle twitch.
4. Once the needle is in the right place, your doctor will use radiofrequency waves to heat the tip of the needle, which will damage the nerve so that it can no longer send pain signals to your brain.
5. You’ll go home the same day, although you’ll need to have someone drive you home. You’ll need to take it easy for the next 24 hours.
Radiofrequency ablation is considered a low-risk procedure, and it relieves pain for more than 70% of patients treated.
Eventually, the nerves will grow back, so the pain may return, but patients can get relief for six months to as long as two years. For some people, the pain never returns. If it does, the procedure can be repeated.
If you’re wondering whether RFA would be a good option for you, we’d be happy to discuss it with you. To make an appointment with the doctors at NeuroMicroSpine, please call (850) 934-7545 or request an appointment.
We hope to see you soon!
The information contained in this article is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace or counter a physician’s advice or judgment. Please always consult your physician before taking any advice learned here or in any other educational medical material.