Lumbar Medial Branch Block Volume Dependent Dispersion Patterns as a Predictor for Ablation Success: A Cadaveric Study

Lumbar facet arthropathy is a common cause of low back pain. Literature supports treatment with radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of associated nerves that innervate lumbar facets when alternative conservative therapies have failed. Diagnostic local anesthetic blocks precede therapeutic ablation, but have a false positive rate of 27-63%, and some have questioned their utility in predicting therapeutic response to RFA. The authors believe that injectate volume may be a contributing factor to false positivity.

Source: PM and R - November 22, 2017 Category: Rehabilitation Authors: Sayed E. Wahezi, Edward Alexeev, John S. Georgy, Nogah Haramati, Stephen A. Erosa, Jay M. Shah, Sherry Downie Source Type: research