Chang Min Cheol, Ahn Sang Ho
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, College of Medicine, Yeungnam University Dr Ahn's Spine and Pain Clinic, and Dr Ahn's Spine and Pain Institute, Daegu, Republic of Korea.
Medicine (Baltimore). 2017 Jun;96(26):e7367. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000007367.
We investigated the degree of pain reduction following intra-articular (IA) pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) stimulation of the sacroiliac joint (SIJ) in patients with chronic SIJ pain that had not responded to IA corticosteroid injection. Twenty patients were recruited. Clinical outcomes after applying PRF stimulation of the SIJ were evaluated by a numeric rating scale (NRS) and a 7-point Likert scale. The NRS scores significantly changed over time. The NRS scores at 1, 2, and 3 months after PRF were significantly lower than those before PRF. However, 4 of the 20 patients (20%) reported successful pain relief (pain relief of ≥ 50%) and were satisfied with the PRF stimulation at 3 months after treatment. IA PRF stimulation of the SIJ was not successful in most patients (80% of all patients). Based on our results, we cannot recommend this procedure to patients with chronic SIJ pain that was unresponsive to IA SIJ corticosteroid injection. Further studies on the effective mode of PRF stimulation and appropriate patient group, and studies on pain conditions that are most responsive to PRF are needed in the future.
我们调查了关节内（IA）脉冲射频（PRF）刺激骶髂关节（SIJ）对慢性SIJ疼痛且IA皮质类固醇注射无效患者的疼痛减轻程度。招募了20名患者。通过数字评分量表（NRS）和7点李克特量表评估应用PRF刺激SIJ后的临床结果。NRS评分随时间显著变化。PRF后1、2和3个月的NRS评分显著低于PRF前。然而，20名患者中有4名（20%）报告疼痛缓解成功（疼痛缓解≥50%），并对治疗后3个月的PRF刺激感到满意。IA PRF刺激SIJ对大多数患者（所有患者的80%）并不成功。基于我们的结果，我们不能向IA SIJ皮质类固醇注射无效的慢性SIJ疼痛患者推荐该程序。未来需要对PRF刺激的有效模式和合适的患者群体进行进一步研究，以及对PRF反应最敏感的疼痛状况进行研究。
