Treatment characteristics by outcome
| Positive outcome* | Negative outcome† | P value‡ | |
| No of nerves targeted | 0.02 | ||
| 3§ | 126/162 (77.8%) | 93/102 (91.2%) | REF |
| 4 | 24/162 (14.8%) | 6/102 (5.9%) | 0.02 |
| >4¶ | 12/162 (7.4%) | 3/102 (2.9%) | 0.10 |
| Unilateral | 130/162 (80.2%) | 84/103 (81.6%) | 0.79 |
| Bilateral | 32/162 (19.8%) | 19/103 (18.4%) | |
| Prognostic Block Volume | |||
| >0.5 mL | 30/162 (18.5%) | 30/103 (29.1%) | 0.053 |
| <0.5 mL | 132/162 (81.5%) | 73/103 (70.9%) | |
| Prognostic block relief | 0.02 | ||
| <50% | 1/58 (1.7%) | 10/51 (20.0%) | REF |
| 50%–79% | 17/58 (29.3%) | 18/51 (35.3%) | 0.04 |
| >80% | 40/58 (69.0%) | 23/51 (45.1%) | <0.01 |
| RFA techniques | 0.09 | ||
| Pulsed RF | 3/162 (1.8%) | 4/99 (4.0%) | 0.53 |
| Cooled RFA | 102/162 (63.0%) | 49/99 (49.5%) | 0.049 |
| Conventional RFA | 57/162 (35.2%) | 46/99 (46.5%) | REF |
| Repeated lesions** | 30/161 (18.6%) | 8/100 (8.0%) | 0.02 |
| Single lesions | 131/161 (81.4%) | 92/100 (92.0%) | |
| Sedation | 85/159 (53.5%) | 54/102 (52.9%) | 0.94 |
| No sedation | 74/159 (46.5%) | 48/102 (47.1%) | |
| Needle size | |||
| <20-gauge (larger) | 121/162 (74.7%) | 62/103 (60.2%) | 0.01 |
| ≥20-gauge (smaller) | 41/162 (25.3%) | 41/103 (39.8%) | |
| Lesion time | |||
| ≤120 s | 18/162 (11.1%) | 16/103 (15.5%) | 0.30 |
| >120 s | 144/162 (88.9%) | 87/103 (84.5%) |
* Positive outcome defined as ≥30% pain relief lasting at least 3 months.
†Negative outcome defines as <30% pain relief or not lasting for 3 months.
‡P value compares positive outcome vs negative outcome.
§Three nerves consisted of superomedial, superolateral and inferomedial genicular nerves.
¶Mean number of nerves 8.0,±SD 1.41.
**Designates more than one lesion at a different location for a single nerve target.
RF, radiofrequency; RFA, radiofrequency ablation.