PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Davis, Tim AU - Loudermilk, Eric AU - DePalma, Michael AU - Hunter, Corey AU - Lindley, David AU - Patel, Nilesh AU - Choi, Daniel AU - Soloman, Marc AU - Gupta, Anita AU - Desai, Mehul AU - Buvanendran, Asokumar AU - Kapural, Leonardo TI - 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 AID - 10.1097/AAP.0000000000000690 DP - 2018 Jan 01 TA - Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine PG - 84--91 VI - 43 IP - 1 4099 - http://rapm.bmj.com/content/43/1/84.short 4100 - http://rapm.bmj.com/content/43/1/84.full SO - Reg Anesth Pain Med2018 Jan 01; 43 AB - Background and Objectives Osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee affects the aging population and has an associated influence on the health care system. Rigorous studies evaluating radiofrequency ablation for OA-related knee pain are lacking. This study compared long-term clinical safety and effectiveness of cooled radiofrequency ablation (CRFA) with intra-articular steroid (IAS) injection in managing OA-related knee pain.Methods This is a prospective, multicenter, randomized trial with 151 subjects with chronic (≥6 months) knee pain that was unresponsive to conservative modalities. Knee pain (Numeric Rating Scale [NRS]), Oxford Knee Score, overall treatment effect (Global Perceived Effect), analgesic drug use, and adverse events were compared between CRFA and IAS cohorts at 1, 3, and 6 months after intervention.Results There were no differences in demographics between study groups. At 6 months, the CRFA group had more favorable outcomes in NRS: pain reduction 50% or greater: 74.1% versus 16.2%, P < 0.0001 (25.9% and 83.8% of these study cohorts, respectively, were nonresponders). Mean NRS score reduction was 4.9 ± 2.4 versus 1.3 ± 2.2, P < 0.0001; mean Oxford Knee Score was 35.7 ± 8.8 vs 22.4 ± 8.5, P < 0.0001; mean improved Global Perceived Effect was 91.4% vs 23.9%, P < 0.0001; and mean change in nonopioid medication use was CRFA > IAS (P = 0.02). There were no procedure-related serious adverse events.Conclusions This study demonstrates that CRFA is an effective long-term therapeutic option for managing pain and improving physical function and quality of life for patients with painful knee OA when compared with IAS injection.Clinical Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02343003).