Genicular Neurotomy (aka ablation) is a brand new, innovative option for treating knee pain without surgery. This highly advanced procedure is on the absolute cutting edge of medicine. By selectively applying a sophisticated type of radio wave to the nerves surrounding the knee (the genicular nerves), one can effectively relieve pain in the knee from any number of causes.
Indications
Perhaps the greatest advantage of genicular neurotomy is that the entire procedure is performed outside the knee capsule and joint itself. This is what allows it to succeed where other procedures like cortisone injections, hyaluronic acid injections, and even surgery fail. Genicular neurotomy is indicated for a variety of conditions:
Osteoarthritis (OA)
Chronic Knee Pain
Degenerative Joint Disease
Total Knee Replacement (before or after)
Partial Knee Replacement (before or after)
Patients unfit for knee replacement
Patients who want to avoid a knee replacement
While surgery is considered to be the accepted treatment option for patients with advanced joint disease, many individuals have comorbidities that may prevent them from being an appropriate surgical candidate. Others may simply want to avoid surgery, as they may be unable to take off the necessary time from work for the procedure and post-operative recovery period. In these cases, radiofrequency neurotomy of the genicular nerves is a safe, and offers a potential alternative to joint replacement for pain.
Despite the general efficacy of knee replacements, many patients complain the pain persists after surgery. In these unfortunate cases, patients have traditionally had few options. With the advent of genicular nerve neurotomy, patients can achieve pain relief without any potential further surgeries. Typically, Genicular nerver blocks are performed prior to the actual ablative therapy. Talk with your physician to see if you are a candidate.