GENICULAR NEUROTOMY (aka Genicular Nerve Ablation)
If you suffer from osteoarthritis of the knees and want to do everything possible to avoid surgery, or you have already had knee surgery that has failed to relieve the pain, this cutting-edge treatment option may be for you. Genicular nerve ablation is a proven treatment option for treating knee pain and our doctors were on the clinical trial that proved how well this amazing procedure works.
What is Genicular Neurotomy?
Genicular Neurotomy (aka ablation) is a brand new, innovative option for treating knee pain without surgery. This highly advanced procedure is on the absolute cutting edge of medicine. By selectively applying a sophisticated type of radio wave to the nerves surrounding the knee (the genicular nerves), one can effectively relieve pain in the knee from any number of causes.
Genicular Neurotomy is a procedure of absolute elegance. There is no steroid involved – in fact, no medication of any kind is injected into the knee at all. The entire procedure is actually performed outside the knee capsule, making it ideal for use before or even after knee surgery if necessary.
Indications
Perhaps the greatest advantage of genicular neurotomy is the fact that the entire procedure is performed OUTSIDE the knee capsule. This is what allows it to succeed where other procedures like cortisone injections, hyaluronic acid injections, and even surgery fail. In fact, this procedure can be done up to one month before knee surgery and even after surgery.
Genicular neurotomy is indicated for a variety of conditions:
Osteoarthritis (OA)
Chronic Knee Pain
Degenerative Joint Disease
Total Knee Replacement (before or after)
Partial Knee Replacement (before or after)
Patients unfit for knee replacement
Patients who want to avoid a knee replacement
While surgery is considered to be the accepted treatment option for patients with advanced joint disease, many individuals have comorbidities that may prevent them from being an appropriate surgical candidate.
Others may simply want to avoid surgery, as they may be unable to take off the necessary time from work for the procedure and post-operative recovery period. In these cases, radiofrequency neurotomy of the genicular nerves is a safe, potential alternative to joint replacement for pain.
Despite the general efficacy of knee replacements, many patients complain the pain persists after surgery. In these unfortunate cases, patients have traditionally had few options, if any, that did not involve additional surgery. With the advent of genicular nerve neurtomy, patients can look forward to pain relief without any potential further surgeries.
Anatomy
The innervation of the knee is comprised of branches of femoral, saphenous, common peroneal, tibial and obterator nerves. Small, articular branches of these nerves, known as the genicular nerves, surround the knee and provide innervation to the joint.
Genicular nerves consist of 6 relevant branches:
- Superior lateral (SL)
- Superior medial (SM)
- Inferior lateral (IL)
- Inferior medial (IM)
- Suprapatellar Branch
- Recurrent tibial genicular nerve
Radiofrequency Neurotomy, when applied to the genicular nerves of the knee, can provide a therapeutic alternative to surgery in effectively treating chronic knee pain. The targets in this treatment modality are the SL, SM and IM. These 3 branches make ideal targets for the procedure, as they are easily accessible by percutaneous approach under fluoroscopic guidance – they lie on the surface of bone at the confluence of the femur with the medial and lateral epicondyles and the confluence of the tibia with the medial epicondyle.
What Are The Benefits?
It is a minimally invasive, nonsurgical treatment option with the potential to relieve pain where other more conventional therapies have failed. When compared to a total knee replacement:
Genicular Nerve Neurotomy | Traditional Joint Replacement |
---|---|
Inexpensive and covered by most insurance | Can be extremely expensive even with good insurance |
Performed in your doctor’s office | Performed in hospital |
Outpatient procedure | Inpatient admission |
Can be done with only local anesthetic | Required general anesthesia and regional anesthesia |
Minimal risk of infection | Risk of post-surgical or nosocomial infection |
No need for blood thinners | Requires 4 weeks of blood thinners (anticoagulation) |
Virtually non-existent recovery period | Long postoperative recovery period requiring inpatient rehab |
In many cases, can go back to work the same day | Can be weeks to months before returning to work |
Little to no postoperative pain, typically controlled with NSAIDs | Significant postoperative pain |
Can return to normal activities in a matter of days | Can be months before returning to normal activities |
For those patients where a knee replacement is the only option, genicular nerve neurotomy can offer a number of benefits in the postoperative phase.
By performing this procedure preoperatively, there is a decrease in postoperative pain, allowing the patient to begin physical therapy earlier. Thus improving knee strength and leading to a shorter hospital stay. Decrease postoperative pain has also been linked to decreased morbidity in the postoperative phase.
For many patients who have to wait several months for surgery, genicular nerve neurotomy can significantly reduce their pain making the waiting period more tolerable.
After the procedure, the degree of pain relief can vary, depending on the cause and location of the pain. In most cases, pain relief from the procedure can last from 6 to 12 months; in other cases, relief can last for years. During the pain relief period, patients are typically able to participate in physical therapy and improve their overall activity level.
The Facts
Chronic knee osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most common conditions associated with advanced age. Greater than 12% of the American population will experience the pain and functional limitations of chronic knee OA.[1] There are various treatments for a degenerated knee joint, such as steroid injections, viscosupplementation injections, arthroscopic surgery and total joint replacement surgery. Of the 20 million adults in the United States suffering from chronic knee OA, [2] close to 700,000 patients will progress to total knee replacement.[3] Not all individuals want or are candidates for surgery, and many elect to have surgery only to find that afterward the pain persists.[4] One of the latest innovations in knee pain management is using radiofrequency ablation to treat the nerves around the knee.[5]
Radiofrequency ablation of the genicular nerves has been shown to significantly reduce chronic knee pain in patients in lieu of major surgery to replace the knee or revise an already existing joint replacement. One of the most impressive aspects of this procedure is its ability to offer immediate pain relief, thus allowing patients to participate in physical therapy, restore function, and return to their normal daily activities.
How Does It Work?
The procedure uses a breakthrough technology called Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA) to stun the painful nerves and prevent the signals from reaching the brain. This treatment is performed through a needle which means there is NO CUTTING, NO SCARS & NO INCISIONS. This amazing technology has been used for decades with excellent success, traditionally to treat pain in the neck and back. The nerves grow back over time which makes the procedure reversible if necessary.
RFA harnesses the energy of radio waves to treat pain at the source, without the need for incisions of any kind. The most appealing aspect of RFA is that there is no need for steroid or cortisone injections, making it ideal for patients with high blood pressure and Diabetes.
THIS PROCEDURE IS PERFORMED IN 2 PHASES:
- Diagnostic Genicular Nerve Block – This procedure consists of placing a small amount of a local anesthetic, like Lidocaine or Bupivacaine, on the genicular nerves to test the patient’s response and see if there is sufficient enough relief in the knee to justify performing a therapeutic neurotomy.
- Genicular Nerve Ablation – This is the therapeutic portion of the treatment whereby the physician will perform a radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of the genicular nerves, thus alleviating pain to the knee and restoring function.
Both portions of the procedure are performed as an outpatient under direct fluoroscopic guidance.
Before performing a genicular neurotomy, your doctor will first schedule you for a diagnostic genicular nerve block to see if you are a candidate for the ablation procedure. The pain relieving effects of the genicular neurotomy can last up to a year or longer.
In more severe cases or in people with arthritis from behind the knee cap or those with meniscal tears, our doctors have be researching the effects of doing an ablation on 3 ADDITIONAL NERVES in the knee – inferior lateral genicular, recurrent tibial, and suprapatellar branch. These 3 nerves send pain signals from the meniscus and the knee cap. So in patients with pain from these areas, a second ablation may be necessary. Once again – our doctors continue to be the pioneers of knee pain.
The effects of a genicular nerve block can be felt almost immediately, but will typically wear off in just a few hours – THIS IS NORMAL. This is just to let your doctor know if the actual ablation procedure will work for you. Relief from the genicular neurotomy proper typically takes effect in a few days.
A genicular nerve block will any where from a few hours to a few days – but don’t worry, this is not the treatment, just the test. The genicular ablation will last MUCH longer. Data from the clinical trials shows the effects of a genicular ablation can last up to 24 months. THAT’S 2 YEARS!
Is Genicular Neurotomy Right for Me?
If traditional treatments like physical therapy and injections with cortisone or hyaluronic acid have not provided you with relief, genicular neurotomy may be an option for you. The procedure involves minimal to no scarring, and can be performed as an alternative to surgery to relieve pain, and even for patients still experiencing pain after surgery.
Contact the Ainsworth Institute to set up an initial evaluation to find out if you are a candidate for this life-changing procedure.
Risk Factors
Complications from a diagnostic genicular nerve block and genicular nerve neurotomy are rare. This procedure is a safe, non-surgical option for treating chronic knee pain. Bleeding, infection, nerve damage and muscle weakness are all possible complications; however these risks are minimized with a proper technique and correct needle placement. Neuritis is another infrequent but potential side effect whereby the skin near the area of the neurotomy can become irritated or overly sensitive for a short period of time.
Most patients tolerate the procedure extremely well without complaint. Some individuals report mild soreness and/or spasm in the area of the procedure; both of which are easily controlled with oral medications your doctor can prescribe upon discharge after the procedure.
In some cases, pain relief may take up to 4-6 weeks to be noticeable.
The Evidence
For those patients where a knee replacement is seemingly inevitable, radiofrequency (RF) neurotomy of the genicular nerves can offer a substantial amount of pain relief without the need for an invasive surgery.
In a double-blind randomized-controlled study by Choi et al in 2011, 38 elderly patients with severe OA lasting a minimum of 3 months were enrolled.[5] All patient were initially evaluated with diagnostic genicular nerve blocks at the SL, SM, and IM branches. A positive response was noted if the patient reported a minimum of 50% pain relief for more than 24 hours. In the study, 19 patients received percutaneous RF genicular neurotomy, and the other 19 were the control, only receiving an additional nerve block. The patients were randomized by a computer-generated schedule. They were then evaluated at 1, 4 and 12 weeks. The authors reported a statistically significant decrease in pain in the neurotomy group of 59%, 65% and 59% reporting at least 50% decrease in pain at 1 week, 4 weeks and 12 weeks respectively.
In those cases where pain persisted after surgery, genicular nerve neurotomy has additional benefit. Studies have demonstrated this procedure can be used in patients who have already had knee replacements. This procedure can be life changing as further surgery to revise the prosthesis can be successfully avoided. In a study by Protzman et al in 2013, patients with pain after total knee arthroplasty were treated with radiofrequency ablation of the genicular nerves.[6]
The utility of genicular nerve neurotomy extends even further as it can also be used to potentially decrease post-operative pain for patients who have no other choice but having a knee replacement. When performed in the preoperative phase, genicular nerve ablation can decrease post-operative pain and decrease the recovery phase.
As this procedure is typically performed in an outpatient setting, and is substantially less invasive than surgery, there is a drastically decreased requirement for narcotic medications in the postoperative period leading to significant improvements in the quality of patient’s life.[7]
More recently, our very own Dr. Hunter and the team at Ainsworth were part of the pivotal clinical trial on Genicular Nerve Ablation, with our site being the only one in New York State or the entire Tri-State Area. This study was a randomized controlled trial comparing Genicular Ablation to conventional steroid injections into the knee. The ablation was far and away more efficacious and with patients showing statistically significant improvements in both pain and function. Even more amazing was the fact that the improvements lasted well beyond a year. The initial publication that Dr. Hunter helped author showed the improvements at one year.[8] The 2-year data is expected to be published by early 2020 with Dr. Hunter as the first author. Due to this clinical trial, the Ainsworth Institute was the first in the area to perform this procedure and helped pioneer the technique as it is known today.
The Ainsworth Institute is Here to Help
If you are suffering from chronic knee pain secondary to moderate/severe OA and want to avoid surgery, or you have already had surgery and find the pain persists, you may be a candidate for a genicular nerve ablation. Contact the Ainsworth Institute of Pain Management today to schedule a diagnostic genicular nerve block and find out if can benefit from this truly groundbreaking procedure.
References
[1] Dillon CF, et al. Prevalence of knee osteoarthritis in the United States: arthritis data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1991-94. J Rheumatol. November 2006; 33(11): 2271-2279.
[2] www.CDC.gov/arhritis/osteoarthritis.htm
[3] MedTech Insights: U.S. Karket for Joint Replacement and Reconstruction, June 2011.
[4] Lui SS, et al. A Cross-Sectional Survey on Prevalence and Risk Factors for Persistent Postsurgical Pain 1 Year After Total Hip and Knee Replacement. Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine. 2012; 37(4): 415-422
[5] Choi W-J, et al. Radiofrequency treatment relieves chronic knee osteoarthritis pain: A double-blind randomized controlled trial. Pain. 2011; 152: 481-487
[6] Protzman NM, Gyi J, Malhotra AD, Kooch JE. Examining the feasibility of radiofrequency treatment for chronic knee pain after total knee arthroplasty. PM R. 2013; 6:373-376.
[7] Stelzer W. MD, Use of Radiofrequency Lateral Branch Neurotomy for the Treatment of Sacroiliac Joint-Mediated Low Back Pain: A Large Case Series. Pain Medicine,2013 Jan (1)29-35.
[8] Davis T, Loudermild E, DePalma M, Hunter C, et al.Prospective, Multicenter, Randomized, Crossover Clinical Trial Comparing the Safety and Effectiveness of Cooled Radiofrequency Ablation With Corticosteroid Injection in the Management of Knee Pain From Osteoarthritis. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2018 Jan; 43(1): 84–91.
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