Cervical medial branch blocks or IA cut-off correlation with RFA outcomes
| Study | Patient population | Design | Results | Comments |
| Cohen et al 200720 | 92 pts with chronic neck pain from three treatment centers who underwent RFA after a positive response to diagnostic cervical LA blocks. Positive response was defined as ≥50% pain relief lasting at least 6 months | Retrospective study | 56% of pts who had at least 50% but less than 80% relief from diagnostic blocks had a successful RFA procedure compared with 58% who experienced at least 80% relief from MBB | Multicenter study using single blocks, evaluating cervical facet RFA |
| Burnham et al 202019 | 50 pts who received 80–99% vs 100% pain relief after dual cervical MBB | Cross-sectional cohort study | 54% of pts in both groups reported ≥50% pain reduction | 87 records were screened and 50 pts were included in the study. Follow-up was conducted by phone call at various time intervals after 6 months |
| Holz and Sehgal, 201623 | 112 pts with positive analgesic response to dual comparative MBB | Retrospective chart review | Percent pain relief after RFA was 48%. Overall analysis showed no correlation between percent or duration of pain relief after MBB and pain relief after RFA | 28% underwent cervical facet interventions. Highest pain relief was in individuals who achieved 100% pain relief lasting >8 hours with lidocaine, suggesting a strong placebo response |
| Shin et al 2006285 | 28 pts with positive analgesic response to dual comparative MBB | Observational | No correlation between categorical pain relief on prognostic blocks (25%, 50%, 75%, 80% and 100%) and pain relief after RFA | 5 pts had whiplash injury and 1 had penetrating neck trauma. Did not target TON |
IA, intra-articular; RFA, radiofrequency ablation; MBB, medial branch block; TON, third occipital nerve.