• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.151-153
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• 2011

We describe a rare case of pulsed radiofrequency treatment for pain relief associated with meralgia paresthetica. A 58-year-old female presented with pain in the left anterior lateral thigh. An imaging study revealed no acute lesions compared with a previous imaging study, and diagnosis of meralgia paresthetica was made. She received temporary pain relief with lateral femoral cutaneous nerve blocks twice. We performed pulsed radiofrequency treatment, and the pain declined to 25% of the maximal pain intensity. At 4 months after the procedure, the pain intensity did not aggravate without medication. Pulsed radiofrequency neuromodulation treatment on the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve may offer an effective, low risk treatment in patients with meralgia paresthetica who are refractory to conservative medical treatment.

• Journal of Dental Anesthesia and Pain Medicine
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.67-70
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• 2022

Persistent idiopathic facial pain is a rare and difficult condition to treat. Several pharmacological, nonpharmacological, and invasive treatment options have been used, with varying results. We report the case of a patient with intractable persistent idiopathic facial pain who responded favorably to a combination of botulinum toxin injections and pulsed radiofrequency treatment of the infraorbital nerve.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.51 no.5
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• pp.281-285
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• 2012

Objective : Occipital neuralgia is characterized by paroxysmal jabbing pain in the dermatomes of the greater or lesser occipital nerves caused by irritation of these nerves. Although several therapies have been reported, they have only temporary therapeutic effects. We report the results of pulsed radiofrequency treatment of the occipital nerve, which was used to treat occipital neuralgia. Methods : Patients were diagnosed with occipital neuralgia according to the International Classification of Headache Disorders classification criteria. We performed pulsed radiofrequency neuromodulation when patients presented with clinical findings suggestive occipital neuralgia with positive diagnostic block of the occipital nerves with local anesthetics. Patients were analyzed according to age, duration of symptoms, surgical results, complications and recurrence. Pain was measured every month after the procedure using the visual analog and total pain indexes. Results : From 2010, ten patients were included in the study. The mean age was 52 years (34-70 years). The mean follow-up period was 7.5 months (6-10 months). Mean Visual Analog Scale and mean total pain index scores declined by 6.1 units and 192.1 units, respectively, during the follow-up period. No complications were reported. Conclusion : Pulsed radiofrequency neuromodulation of the occipital nerve is an effective treatment for occipital neuralgia. Further controlled prospective studies are necessary to evaluate the exact effects and long-term outcomes of this treatment method.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.136-138
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• 2013

A 65-year-old male presented with pain in his right medial calf. An imaging study revealed no acute lesions, and a diagnosis of saphenous neuralgia was made by a nerve conduction study. He received temporary pain relief with saphenous nerve blocks twice in a one-week interval. Pulsed radiofrequency neuromodulation reduced pain to 10% of the maximal pain intensity. At 6 months after the procedure, the pain intensity was not aggravated even without medication. Pulsed radiofrequency neuromodulation of the saphenous nerve may offer an effective and minimally invasive treatment for patients with saphenous neuralgia who are refractory to conservative management.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.52-54
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• 2012

Trigger point injection treatment is an effective and widely applied treatment for myofascial pain syndrome. The trapezius muscle frequently causes myofascial pain in neck area. We herein report a case in which direct pulsed radiofrequency (RF) treatment was applied to the trapezius muscle. We observed that the RF treatment produced continuous pain relief when the effective duration of trigger point injection was temporary in myofascial pain.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.290-293
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• 2014

Amputation neuroma can cause very serious, intractable pain. Many treatment modalities are suggested for painful neuroma. Pharmacologic treatment shows a limited effect on eliminating the pain, and surgical treatment has a high recurrence rate. We applied pulsed radiofrequency treatment at the neuroma stalk under ultrasonography guidance. The long-term outcome was very successful, prompting us to report this case.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.57-60
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• 2011

Pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) treatment of nervous tissue has been proposed as a less neurodestructive technique alternative to continuous RF heat lesioning. Recently, clinical reports using PRF have shown favorable effects in the treatment of a variety of focal pain areas, even in non-nervous tissues; however, the mechanism of effect underlying this treatment to non-nervous tissue remains unclear. We report the case of a 67-year-old male who presented with pain reliving point in the posterior neck. The patient had pain in the posterior neck for 3 years. The pain subsided with pressure applied to a point in the posterior neck. There were no specific abnormal findings on laboratory testing and radiologic examinations. After PRF treatment to the pain-relieving point, he had pain relief which lasted more than 5 months.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.202-205
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• 2008

Background: Lumbar radicular pain is a frequent and often debilitating event. Although many treatment methods have been described in several studies, the available evidences regarding efficacy is not sufficient enough to draw definitive conclusions on an optimal therapy regime. Pulsed radiofrequency (RF) treatment was found to exert a beneficial effect on intractable radicular pain in individuals. The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of pulsed RF of the dorsal root ganglion for chronic lumbar radicular pain. Methods: Twenty five patients with chronic lumbar radicular pain that was refractory to selective nerve root blockage met the inclusion criteria of our study and received pulsed RF treatment. The average numeric rating scale (NRS) for leg pain during usual activities and the Oswestry disability index (ODI) were measured at 1 and 3 months after the procedure. Results: Of the 25 patients accepted for pulsed RF treatment, one dropped out due to a vertebral compression fracture during this study. ODI and NRS showed a positive trend in favor of the pulsed RF treatment. No significant complications were observed during the study period. Conclusions: It appears that pulsed RF treatment of the lumbar spinal dorsal root ganglion may be an effective treatment method for patients suffering from lumbar radicular pain, and who were not responsive to selective nerve root blockage.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.266-269
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• 2016

The superficial peroneal nerve is vulnerable to damage from ankle sprain injuries and fractures as well as surgery to this region. And it is also one of the most commonly involved nerves in complex regional pain syndrome type II in the foot and ankle region. We report two cases of ultrasound-guided pulsed radiofrequency treatment of superficial peroneal nerve for reduction of allodynia in CRPS patients.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.167-170
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• 2009

Pharmacological management is the first choice for treatment of the trigeminal neuralgia patients; however, if this mode of treatment fails a minimally invasive procedure should be performed. One of the most commonly used procedures is conventional radiofrequency lesioning of the Gasserian ganglion. Despite its popularity and success rate, this technique has disadvantages such as diminished corneal reflex, masseter weakness, numbness and anesthesia dolorosa. As a result, many studies have been conducted in an attempt to find a better method of treating trigeminal neuralgia. We report here a case of a trigeminal neuralgia patient that was treated with pulsed radiofrequency lesioning of the supraorbital and supratrochlear nerve due to pain in the frontal head that was refractory to the pharmacological treatments. Following the procedure, the Visual Analogue Scale score for pain decreased to 1-2/10 and the pain relief persisted for 7 months. These results indicate that pulsed radiofrequency treatment of the peripheral nerve may be useful for trigeminal neuralgia patients that do not respond to pharmacological treatments.