Radiofrequency Treatment for Knee Osteoarthritis Pain

Radiofrequency treatment has emerged as a minimally invasive modality for managing chronic pain in knee osteoarthritis, a degenerative joint disease marked by cartilage breakdown, subchondral bone changes and synovial inflammation. By applying targeted electromagnetic energy to sensory nerves around the knee, this intervention seeks to interrupt nociceptive signalling and provide sustained analgesia. Techniques include conventional radiofrequency ablation, which generates a thermal lesion through continuous high-frequency current, pulsed radiofrequency, which delivers intermittent bursts of energy at lower temperatures, and cooled radiofrequency ablation, in which circulating fluid within the probe permits larger lesion sizes and potentially longer-lasting relief. Clinical applications span symptom control in patients who are unsuitable for or awaiting total knee replacement, and as an adjunct for perioperative pain management. While many studies report significant short- to mid-term reductions in pain scores and improvements in physical function, variability in nerve targets, energy parameters and patient selection criteria underscores the need for standardisation. Ongoing research aims to refine procedural protocols, determine predictors of response and assess long-term durability, with a view to integrating radiofrequency approaches into comprehensive osteoarthritis care pathways globally.

Research from Nature Portfolio

No recent Nature Portfolio content available.

Radiofrequency Treatment for Knee Osteoarthritis Pain publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in radiofrequency treatment for knee osteoarthritis pain across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Genicular nerves: Sensory branches of the femoral, tibial and common peroneal nerves that innervate the knee joint capsule and periosteum.

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA): A procedure using continuous high-frequency electrical current to generate heat and create a controlled lesion on target nerve fibres, interrupting pain signals.

Cooled radiofrequency ablation (CRFA): A variant of RFA in which internal probe cooling allows higher power delivery, producing larger and deeper thermal lesions for potentially extended pain relief.

References

1. Genicular nerve radiofrequency ablation: a systematic review of application for perioperative pain control in total knee arthroplasty and as treatment for chronic pain in well-appearing total knee arthroplasty. Knee Surgery & Related Research (2024).
2. Cooled Radiofrequency Ablation Treatment of the Genicular Nerves in the Treatment of Osteoarthritic Knee Pain: 18‐ and 24‐Month Results. Pain Practice (2019).
3. Efficacy and safety of radiofrequency treatment for improving knee pain and function in knee osteoarthritis: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research (2022).