Radiofrequency nerve blockade in Pain therapy:
Stereotactic radiofrequency (RF) procedures are a part of the range of nerve blocks available for relief of pain.

Principles: RF current traverses the tissues on its way from the electrode tip to the dispersive ground plate. This generates heat in the tissues around the electrode tip, where the current density is the highest. The rise in temperature in the tissues is transferred to the electrode tip, where a constant level of temperature is maintained by regulating the energy supplied from the lesion generator in response to changing electrical resistance in the tissues. In this way, charring of the tissues as occurs in electrocautery is prevented. The size of the lesion can be controlled, by monitoring the electrode tip temperature. It is also influenced by the vascularity of the surrounding tissue.

Advantages:
Disadvantages:
Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulator (TENS):

TENS is worth considering in patients with central pain who do not have severely reduced sensitivity for vibration and touch that is who have signs of fairly well preserved function in the dorsal column pathways. Thus, the proportion of responding patient is small and perhaps even smaller in the other central pain syndromes.

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Last created on 03-04-2002
Last submitted on 01-07-2006