By Alexander Germanis
When the world-renowned automobile manufacturer Henry Ford first instituted the assembly line method of building his Model-T in Detroit, Michigan, he described his customers’ color options thusly: “Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants, so long as it is black.”
The option of color has, thankfully, expanded since then, as have the options of the added gadgets and interiors with which a car can come.
Unfortunately, for many sufferers of knee osteoarthritis, described by Dr. Ricardo Vallejo of Millennium Pain Center in Bloomington as “the most common disease of advanced age,” there are decidedly few options left them. They are, like Ford’s first customers, woefully short on options.
For those many sufferers who have become sensitive to over-the-counter medications or who simply cannot have the more drastic surgical methods performed, radio frequency has developed into a welcome way to tune in on the pains of knee osteoarthritis and eliminate them.
As Dr. Vallejo explained last month, in radiofrequency ablation (RFA), “an insulated needle [is introduced] in close proximity to a nerve. Then you apply electrical current in such a way that the nerve heats up and you obtain numbness of this obstruction.”
The beauty of RFA lies not only in its relative simplicity but in its low risk to the patient; and patient risk usually gets higher as their age does.
This is not to say that other minimally invasive options have not been attempted to counter osteoarthritic pain. “Conservative treatments like injections of cortisone in the joints,” have been used, Dr. Vallejo begins to list. There is also viscoelastic therapy whereby hyaluronidase, a gel commonly used in ophthalmic surgery, is injected into the joint. But, the doctor cautions, “They have inconclusive evidence to support their use.”
Arthroscopic attempts have also been made, as the doctor explains, for debridement or removal of dead or damaged tissue from the joint. And arthroscopic lavage, or the washing out, of the joint has also been employed. However, like the aforementioned injections, “These also have minimal evidence,” to their support. In fact, Dr. Vallejo adds, “There is a strong recommendation against the use of these therapies only for the management of pain.”
With these rather unsubstantiated treatments as well as other conservative methods exhausted, patients are often faced with surgery as the remaining option. “But many of them really cannot have surgery because of the comorbidities,” Dr. Vallejo says.
That is where radio frequency ablation comes in. “This radio frequency technique may offer them a minimally invasive, percutaneous alternative that doesn’t require hospital admission,” he states. “The patient may have some pain after the procedure for a day or two and then they may get relief for several months. And if the pain comes back the procedure can be repeated.”
Although pain relief without surgery is probably preferable to most people, it is possible that many patients are not aware of their non-surgical options. According to Dr. Vallejo: “There has been a huge increase in the number of surgeries for total knee replacements over the last 20 years.” That increase translates to over five billion dollars in excessive medical expenditures.
Worse still, 19 percent of those patients suffer severe or unbearable pain within a year of their surgery. “That’s why you end up with so many revisions,” the doctor points out. “And when you do a revision, the chance you end up with pain is almost 40 percent.”
“We want patients to be aware that this radiofrequency option is there and they may be able to avoid or delay surgery,” Dr. Vallejo continues. After all the research, the extensive study of nerves in cadavers and the continued study of the therapy on patients, RFA for the treatment of painful knees was recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
“This is a new therapy that we can offer to our patients,” Dr. Vallejo concludes. “And after all the studies we did, it is showing excellent results. The beauty of these studies is that we offer a new option for these patients.”
If you missed the previous articles in this series, you may read them online at HealthyCellsBN.com or call Cheryl at 309-664-2524.
For information about this new technique to fight the pain of knee osteoarthritis, contact Millennium Pain Center at 309-662-4321 or visit www.millenniumpaincenter.com. The office is located at 1015 S. Mercer Ave. in Bloomington. The practice provides the most advanced and comprehensive pain management for a wide variety of conditions. Drs. Benyamin and Vallejo have been selected among 70 of the Best Pain Physicians in America.
Photo credit: KatarzynaBialasiewicz/iStock