A Pilot Study on the Utility of Cooled Radiofrequency Ablation in Patients Prior to Total Knee Arthroplasty

The number of patients who undergo total knee replacement is rising significantly. However, many of these patients are dissatisfied with the results, because they continue to experience pain postoperatively. This pain can be debilitating and can also be associated with decreased quality of life. Given the increasing number of patients undergoing total knee replacement and a dissatisfaction rate of 8-44%, improvements must be made in pain management protocols to help decrease pain in the immediate postoperative period following total knee replacement. Cooled radiofrequency ablation is a procedure that uses water-cooled technology to denervate the sensory nerves. It is widely used in the spine and is increasingly being used in the knee to treat osteoarthritis. Existing studies have shown that it can significantly reduce pain in patients with chronic osteoarthritis. In terms of its potential benefit as a preoperative measure to minimize postoperative pain, the literature is sparse. Results from this study will be used to generate hypotheses and power for future studies.