Background and Aims Collection of real-world data can offer the aggregation of additional evidence and help drive discovery of new therapeutic aspects for evaluation in future clinical studies. In this report, we describe real-world outcomes from a cohort of patients who received pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) ablation as a treatment method for the treatment of chronic pain.

Methods This is a real-world, retrospective, observational, case-series study of patients in Europe who used a device capable of pulsed radiofrequency ablation (Boston Scientific, Marlborough, MA, USA) for treatment of chronic pain. Key data and clinical assessments include demographic characteristics, pain diagnosis, baseline and post-treatment pain scores, and percent pain relief.

Results To date, 31 patients have been assessed with an average age of 69.3 ± 10.6 years (n = 23). At post-procedure and last follow-up (mean=289 ± 358 days, median 119 days), significant improvement (p < 0.0001) in pain intensity scores was documented. In particular, a 5.1-point NRS score improvement versus baseline (7.9) was observed at last follow-up (2.8). In addition, the proportion of patients with >50% pain relief (responder rate) at last follow-up was also determined to be 74.2% (23/31).

Conclusions PRF ablation as a therapeutic modality for treatment of chronic pain may be particularly helpful in patients who have not achieved a sought after level of pain relief using conventional drug medications or other traditional pain management approaches. This observational case-series seeks to track and assess clinical outcomes of patients who used PRF to help manage their chronic intractable pain.