Diagnostic Genicular Nerve Block Prior to Radiofrequency Ablation for Knee Osteoarthritis Pain
CompletedNot applicableNCT02578108
View the official record on ClinicalTrials.gov Recruiting status changes often. Contact the study team listed on ClinicalTrials.gov, and talk to your doctor before joining a study.
This study has no listed site in Canada in this snapshot. It is included as part of the worldwide chronic pain corpus.
Brief summary (from the registry)
Chronic painful knee OA is a major cause of disability in older adults. In patients whose symptoms are refractory to conservative management but who do not wish to undergo TKA or, alternatively, are not operative candidates, genicular nerve RFA represents a promising treatment option. Investigators will determine if patients with chronic painful knee osteoarthritis experience meaningful and long-term improvement in pain, function, and analgesic use, as well as prevention of TKA after RFA of the genicular nerves. Investigators will also determine whether zero versus one set of diagnostic genicular nerve blocks Answering these questions will help determine if genicular nerve RFA is indeed a worthwhile treatment for chronic painful knee OA. Additionally, this will help determine the optimal diagnostic protocol for patient selection for this procedure, which has implications for improving treatment success rates, preventing unnecessary procedures, and decreasing healthcare cost savings.
Study details
- Official title
- A Prospective Trial of Zero Versus One Diagnostic Genicular Nerve Blocks to Determine Clinical Outcomes After Radiofrequency Ablation for the Treatment of Chronic Painful Knee Osteoarthritis
- Conditions
- Osteoarthritis, Knee
- Pain
- Nerve
- Lesion
- Interventions
- Procedure: genicular nerve diagnostic block with lidocaine (local anesthetic)
- Procedure: genicular nerve radiofrequency ablation
- Sponsor
- Northwestern University
- Start date
- 2015-10
- Primary completion
- 2018-09-01
- Sex
- All
- Age range
- from 30 Years to 80 Years
- Results posted
- No results posted in this snapshot
- Countries
- United States
- Total sites listed
- 1
Eligibility criteria
Show eligibility criteria (verbatim from the registry)
Inclusion Criteria: 1. All patients ages 30-80 with chronic painful knee osteoarthritis who would undergo treatment by genicular nerve radiofrequency ablation. 2. Knee pain for at least 6 months. 3. Kellgren-Lawrence knee osteoarthritis of 2 or greater. 4. Pain resistant to conventional therapy including NSAIDs, opioids, muscle relaxants, oral steroids, physical therapy, and intra-articular injection therapy. 5. No pain referral beyond the expected distribution for knee osteoarthritis. Exclusion Criteria: 1. NRS pain score of 4 or more 2. Focal neurologic signs or symptoms. 3. Previous radiofrequency ablation treatment for similar symptoms. 4. Intra-articular knee corticosteroid or hyaluronic acid injection in the past 3 months. 5. Concomitant radicular pain. 6. Previous knee surgery. 7. Patient refusal. 8. Lack of consent. 9. Active systemic or local infections at the site of proposed needle and electrode placement. 10. Coagulopathy or other bleeding disorder, current use of anticoagulants or anti-platelet medications. 11. Allergy to medications being used for injection procedures (contrast, local anesthetic). 12. Inability to read English, communicate with staff, or participate in follow-up. 13. Pregnancy. 14. Pacemaker. 15. Cognitive deficit. 16. Unstable medical or psychiatric illness.
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov (US National Library of Medicine), snapshot October 2026. Check the registry for current recruiting status. Record: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT02578108