A New Treatment For Chronic Knee Pain

A Solution for Providers and Patients

Chronic knee pain is a very common complaint in the United States. The typical conservative treatments for knee pain are physical therapy and over-the-counter pain medicines. The next step in treatment can call for injections, with steroids or viscosupplementation such as Synvisc/Euflexa treatment, along with prescription pain medications. Beyond that, knee replacement surgery has been a common solution to chronic knee pain due to osteoarthritis.

I’ve had knee pain since I was 14 or 15 years old, when I destroyed my ACL. I’ve had at least five ACL replacements and many scopes. Nothing provided me with any pain relief, aside from drugs. I would say that this procedure has provided 95 percent pain relief so far. It has definitely helped my quality of life.

The doctors at Louisiana Pain Specialists are excited to be offering a new type of treatment for their patients who suffer from chronic knee pain; called a knee radiofrequency ablation. This procedure can help patients to delay or even avoid surgery, and can also provide pain relief to patients who have already had knee replacement surgery.

Knee radiofrequency ablation is an outpatient procedure, which is carried out in two steps. In the first procedure, which is diagnostic, a medication is injected into the nerves around the knee, called the genicular nerves. This medication serves to temporarily block the pain signals.

If a patient gets pain relief from the diagnostic procedure, the doctor will move forward with the second step, which is the actual knee radiofrequency ablation. In this procedure, a specialized needle is used to apply heat directly to the genicular nerves of the knee. After a genicular nerve is heated in this way, it is unable to continue sending pain signals to the brain. The pain relief from this procedure can last six months or more. While this is a new type of procedure, radiofrequency energy has been used in medical procedures for over 75 years and is very safe.

Dr. Satvik Munshi, of Louisiana Pain Specialists, is excited to be able to offer this treatment. He says, “The genicular nerve block and radiofrequency ablation of the knee has been a great option for several of our patients who suffer from chronic knee pain.”

One of those patients, Eric Rotts, 48, is happy with the results he has achieved so far, a week after his procedure. “I’ve had knee pain since I was 14 or 15 years old, when I destroyed my ACL. I’ve had at least five ACL replacements and many scopes. Nothing provided me with any pain relief, aside from drugs. I would say that this procedure has provided 95 percent pain relief so far. It has definitely helped my quality of life.”

If you are suffering from chronic knee pain, you might be a candidate for a knee radiofrequency ablation procedure. For more information about this procedure, to refer a patient, or to schedule an appointment, call us!