title: Water-cooled radiofrequency neuroablation for sacroiliac joint dysfunctional pain.
abstract: Sacroiliac (SI) joint dysfunction is a common source of chronic low-back pain. Recent evidences from different parts of the world suggest that cooled radiofrequency (RF) neuroablation of sacral nerves supplying SI joints has superior pain alleviating properties than available existing treatment options for SI joint dysfunctional pain. A 35-year-old male had intractable bilateral SI joint pain (numeric rating scale [NRS] - 9/10) with poor treatment response to intra-articular steroid therapy. Bilateral water cooled = RF was applied for neuroablation of nerves supplying both SI joints. Postprocedure pain intensity was 5/10 and after 7 days it was 2/10. On 18th-month follow-up, he is pain free except for mild pain (NRS 2/10) on occasional extreme twisting of the back. This case attempts to highlight that sacral neuroablation based on cooled RF technique can be a long lasting remedial option for chronic SI joint pain unresponsive to conventional treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Pain and Perioperative Medicine, ESI-Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Maniktala, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Binay Kumar
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Biswas
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Pain and Perioperative Medicine, North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences, Shillong, Meghalaya, India.
authors.forename: Samarjit
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dey
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Pain and Perioperative Medicine, Malda Medical College, Maldah, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Saumya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Biswas
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Pain and Perioperative Medicine, All Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Varinder Kumar
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Mohan
keywords: Cool radiofrequency neuroablation; low back pain; sacroiliac joint