Genicular Nerve Ablation | Genicular Neurotomy
Are you looking for relief of your knee osteoarthritis pain but want to avoid surgery at all costs? Have you already completed a knee replacement surgery but still suffer with knee pain? Genicular Nerve Ablation is a proven treatment option for treating knee pain with clinical trial data that demonstrates the amazing benefits of this proven treatment.
How Does it Work?
The Genicular nerves are a group of three nerves that surround the knee and provide pain sensation from the knee to the brain. Using a sophisticated and elegant system of targeted radiofrequency waves, genicular nerves can be knocked out and pain diminishes dramatically. There is no need for harmful steroid injections or injections into the knee capsule.
Anatomy
Indications
- Chronic knee pain
- Osteoarthritis
- Degenerative Joint Disease
- Total Knee Replacement
- Partial Knee Replacement
- Non-operative Knee OA Candidates
Safety
Because the entire procedure is completed outside the knee capsule, the procedure is ideal for patients before or even after surgery.
The Procedure
Phase 1 – Diagnostic Genicular Nerve Block
A diagnostic Genicular Nerve block is performed under fluoroscopic guidance. The physician injects a small amount of anesthetic, Lidocaine or Bupivacaine, on the genicular nerves to assess the patient’s response. If the patient reports sufficient enough relief in the knee pain, the
Phase 2 – Genicular Nerve Ablation
This therapeutic phase of the treatment provides the longest lasting relief and benefit. The physician uses a special Radiofrequency device to ablate the three genicular nerves. After these small pain nerves are “knocked out”, patients experience considerable knee pain relief and a restoration of function.
Genicular Nerve Radiofrequency Ablation has been shown to provide over 1 year of pain relief. In some cases, pain relief has lasted much longer.
Benefits over Surgery
| Genicular Nerve RFA | Joint Replacement Surgery |
| Minimally Invasive | Open Surgical Procedure |
| Outpatient | Inpatient Admission – Hospital Stay |
| Inexpensive | Expensive – Even with Insurance |
| Local Anesthetic | General Anesthesia |
| Low Risk of Infection | Risk of Infection |
| Immediate Return to Activity | Prolonged Post-op Recovery |
| Limited Post-procedure pain | Severe Post-Op Pain |
| No Risk of Rejection | Risk of Total Joint Rejection |
| No Anticoagulation | Blood Thinners for 4 weeks |
Testimonial…..
Thanks to Dr Antony and his team, i can walk again. I completed a right knee replacement surgery over 10 years ago and was not a candidate for a revision knee replacement. I thought I was going to be confined to a wheelchair. The procedure went well and thanks to senior wheelchair exercises I was walking again within a few days. I am so grateful to the whole team at Carolina Sports and Spine. Thanks again.
Ask your doctor if Genicular Neurotomy is right for you!
Call today! 252-442-4024
References
Yilmaz V, Umay E, Gundogdu I, Aras B. The comparison of efficacy of single intraarticular steroid injection versus the combination of genicular nerve block and intraarticular steroid injection in patients with knee osteoarthritis: a randomised study. Musculoskelet Surg. 2019 Dec 11.
Kidd VD, Strum SR, Strum DS, Shah J. Genicular Nerve Radiofrequency Ablation for Painful Knee Arthritis: The Why and the How. JBJS Essent Surg Tech. 2019 Mar 13;9(1):e10. doi: 10.2106/JBJS.ST.18.00016. eCollection 2019 Mar 26. PubMed PMID: 31333900
McCormick ZL, Reddy R, Korn M, Dayanim D, Syed RH, Bhave M, Zhukalin M, Choxi S, Ebrahimi A, Kendall MC, McCarthy RJ, Khan D, Nagpal G, Bouffard K, Walega DR. A Prospective Randomized Trial of Prognostic Genicular Nerve Blocks to Determine the Predictive Value for the Outcome of Cooled Radiofrequency Ablation for Chronic Knee Pain Due to Osteoarthritis. Pain Med. 2018 Aug 1;19(8):1628-1638.
