Comparison of Efficacy among Three Radiofrequency Ablation Techniques for Treating Knee Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Shih-Hsiang Chou,Chia-Lung Shih,Cheng-Ming Chou,Cheng-Chang Lu,Peng-Ju Huang,Yin-Chun Tien,Zi-Miao Liu,Po-Chih Shen

doi:10.3390/ijerph18147424

Abstract

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) was first introduced for treating knee osteoarthritis (OA) in 2010 and has emerged as a minimally invasive treatment option. Three RFA techniques have been adopted for treating knee OA, including conventional, pulsed, and cooled RFA. However, the efficacy among different RFA techniques in the treatment of knee OA is still unclear. Three electronic databases were systematically searched for relevant articles, including PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library. A meta-analysis of articles that investigated the use of RFA techniques in the treatment of knee OA was conducted to pool the effect size in pain before and after treatment. A total of 20 eligible articles (including 605 patients) were included for our meta-analysis. After treatment, the patients had significant improvements in pain for all three RFA techniques when compared with the baseline level for the 1, 3-, and 6-month follow-ups (p < 0.00001). However, there were no significant differences in the efficacy among the three RFA techniques for all follow-up visits (p > 0.05). The three RFA techniques demonstrated a significant improvement in pain for up to 6 months after treatment. Comparing the efficacy of the three RFA techniques in the treatment of knee OA, our results showed that no significant differences in pain relief among the three RFA techniques were observed at the 1-, 3-, 6, and 12-month follow-up visits.

Highlights

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative disease and is one of the main causes of disability and pain worldwide
The patients had significant improvement in pain after treatment
The result demonstrated that the patients had significant improvement in pain after treatment

Summary

Introduction

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative disease and is one of the main causes of disability and pain worldwide. Pain and disability can reduce quality of life, such as social connectedness, emotional well-being, and relationships [1]. Of American adults (age ≥ 45 years) suffer from this disease [2]. To delay or avoid surgical treatment, several non-surgical treatment options have been used to treat knee OA, such as extracorporeal shockwave therapy [3], intra-articular hyaluronic acid [4], intra-articular platelet-rich plasma [5], and foot orthoses [6]. Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) was first introduced for treating knee OA in 2010 [7]. Three RFA techniques have been adopted for treating knee OA, including conventional [7], pulsed [9], and cooled

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Results

Conclusion