Knee Pain of a 83 year old women

An 83 year old woman came to me after a long gap of many years requesting me to do the same procedure for her knee pain. I asked her how long back the procedure was done. She couldn’t recollect. She had also misplaced her file over the years. So we had to literally dig through our case papers to find hers.

As I was talking to her I came to know that she was a case of osteoarthritis knee. The X-rays were not so bad as to warrant a joint replacement. The woman was not willing to undergo surgery considering her age and associated medical problems like diabetes and hypertension and recent angioplasty. But, she was in pain and after experiencing a very long pain free period, wanted to be pain free again.

By this time, my receptionist brought me the case paper. I was astonished when I realised that it had been 11 years since her last procedure and that she was pain free up until 2-3 months!

Genicular nerve radiofrequency Ablation and Intra-articular Pulsed Radiofrequency is a very good interventional modality for treatment of chronic pain due to osteoarthritis of the knee. It gives prolonged pain relief, astonishing 11 years in this case with the benefit of not having to take any painkillers.

One can follow physiotherapy regimen after the pain is gone to strengthen the muscles and improve the range of motion of the joint which also improves the gait (walking). This procedure is done under local anaesthesia and does not require admission. It is a day-care procedure. There is no need for bedrest after the procedure and the person can resume his/her activities from the same day.