Has anyone tried a Radio Frequecy injection. I'm going in on next Friday and am nervous because it is not a normal procedure for treating RSD.
It is suppose to deadend the end of the nerve to prevent the pain signal going to the brain. The nerve will refuse itself within six months so it is not permenant. Has anyone tried this?

Hi, I'm Greg. I'm my wife's caregiver and she's had this *&^%%^$ for14 years and has tried about everything. SHE's supposed to go in Wednesday for this procedure. I've done a little researching on this site and elsewhere and we've decided to forego the thing. IN fact she's on the phone right now canceling the appt. with her neurologist. Some people on here say RUN don't WALK away from this treatment. I see it as likened to lobotomies back in the 50's and 60's. Almost medieval. Of Course, She has gone totally full-body and we shy away from invasive stuff because that will make it spread even more. If you do get this procedure. please post your progress. Maybe it'll work, but we don't want to take a chance. Good Luck
Greg and Karen

I've never heard of this. But, I'm sure you've investigated it, and, your doctor's success rate!?????
Be sure.

I think we'd all love to hear the outcome, and, surely hope that is does something positive, for this nasty disease!

Pete
asb

Never heard of it either. I hope all comes out alright. I will keep you in my prayers....

I had an IME 2 months ago (wc), that Dr recomended my Dr do this procedure. They called it Radio Frequency Ablation. He said that since I responded to 6 stellate ganglion nerve blocks that it should help me. Btw, the nerve blocks only gave me 10 days of relief.After researching it and talking to my Dr I decided against it. My Dr said he didn't have good results and I could be left with Horner's Syndrome (droopy eye/face) until the nerves grow back, anywhere from 6 mo to 2 yrs. Also, the nerves will grow back and the pain may or may not come back....maybe worse. There is also the possibility the procedure will not help at all.

I have RSD in my left hand/arm so maybe results would be different for lower extremity but I am not willing to chance making this worse and having to deal with the Horners syndrome is just not something I am ready for. I am having a hard time accepting and understanding this as it is. I'm still waiting to wake up from this nightmare. I used to cry all the time, now even when I want to cry there are just no more tears.

stressedout, I agree with your call. And from what I understand, the upside is somewhat lower and the downside is far worse for folks with lower extremity pain, requiring a lumbar procedure.*

To get a picture of the possible downside, I would check out just one article written by an avowed supporter of the precedure, Laxmaiah Manchikanti, MD, "The role of radiofrequency in the management of complex regional pain syndrome," Curr Rev Pain 2000;4(6):437-44, free full text at http://www.rsds.org/2/library/articl...anchikanti.pdf

Pain Management Center of Paducah, 2831 Lone Oak Road, Paducah, KY 42003, USA.

The nomenclature, pathophysiology, and treatment modalities of complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) are controversial. Thus far there are no specific, scientifically valid treatments for the management of CRPS. The numerous modalities of treatment range from sympathetic ganglion blocks, intravenous regional blocks, administration of a multitude of pharmacologic agents and behavioral interventions, to surgical sympathectomy. Minimally invasive radiofrequency lesioning for managing CRPS is a modality in its developmental stages. This article describes radiofrequency lesioning techniques in managing CRPS. [Emphasis added.]

PMID: 11060589 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1...ubmed_RVDocSum

While even the abstract sounds out of date compared to a few other things that were being published that year (say, Schwartzman RJ, "New Treatments for Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy," NEJM 2000:654-655, free full text at http://www.rsds.org/2/library/articl...tzman_nejm.pdf) the kicker is when Dr. Manchikanti discusses "Complications of Radiofrequency" at page 442, and in particular, those mentioned in Sub-Paragraph 5 - which I understand to arise primarily from lumbar procedures for lower extremity pain - including "spinal cord infarctions . . . paraplegia . . . that may develop secondary to inadvertant lesioning of the spinal cord or its constituants." Please, scroll down to p. 442 and check them out: http://www.rsds.org/2/library/articl...anchikanti.pdf

Swatgen27, were any of these potential complications disclosed to you?

And is it any wonder, when physicians of the relatively conservative Division of Pain Medicine, Mayo Clinic (Rochester and Jacksonville) published "Complex Regional Pain Syndrome," R.H. Rho, R.P. Brewer, T.J. Lamer, and P.R. Wilson, Mayo Clin Proc. 2002;77:174-180, free full text at http://www.mayoclinicproceedings.com...2/174.full.pdf, that no mention was made the use of Radiofrequency ablation?

Radiofrequency ablation is a blast from the past, and that's where it should stay.

Mike

*On this, check out "Interventional Therapies," Allen W. Burton, MD, in the RSDSA's Complex Regional Pain Syndrome: Treatment Guidelines, R. Norman Harden, MD, editor (2006) http://www.rsds.org/3/clinical_guidelines/:

Wilkinson43 reports the largest series of percutaneous Radio Frequency (RF) lesioning of the thoracic T-2 distribution sympathetic outflow (RF sympathectomy), with over 350 procedures performed with 86% signs of sustained sympathectomy at 3-year follow-up, without any assessment of clinical analgesic or functional outcomes (level 3 evidence for interruption of sympathetic activity in a prolonged fashion with RF techniques).43 Wilkinson reports difficulty with lumbar percutaneous RF techniques due to variability of the lumbar anatomy versus the thoracic ganglion. He also reports a low rate of postprocedure neuralgic syndromes (around 5%), although this is recorded in an unpublished data format within a book chapter.42 This author could find no published data yet on pulsed RF sympathetic ganglion techniques. [Emphasis added.]

Footnotes
42. Kim K, DeSalles A, Johnson J, Ahn S. Sympathectomy: open and thoracoscopic. In: Burchiel K, ed. Surgical Management of Pain. New York, NY: Thieme Publishers; 2002:688-700.
43. Wilkinson H. Percutaneous radiofrequency upper thoracic sympathectomy. Neurosurgery. 1996;38:715-725.

http://www.rsds.org/3/clinical_guide...rventional.pdf

Stressedout,
Thank you for the concern as I'm extremely concerned as well. In fact, I'm scarred s***less. Pardon my french....
I just don’t know what to do anymore, and I have run out of options as this is all I have left:
Manage it with medicine - and I find that 'medicine' does a poor job managing the RSD pain and I'm on a lot of medicine.
- Or -
Try one last thing (The R.F. injection) in hopes that I might feel comfortable in body again.
I know you said you did research and I have very little information on this procedure. In fact everyone here has told me more facts about this procedure than my doctor and the research that I have found.
You and your wife are in my thoughts and thank you for your advice.

Sarah

It has been over a week since I had the RF injection done and I thought I would tell everyone how it is going....
Since the procedure I have had an increase in my leg pain (RSD in in both legs from hip to toes) and a lot of back pain and I usually dont have any back pain.
I have also had an increase in muscle spasms and my right leg feels tired when walking.
I have yet to see any benefit but the doctor said it will take from 4-6 weeks to get the full benefits.
As for week one, I have noted no benefits. I will let everyone know how week two goes... (I pray it goes better than last week.)

It has been two long weeks since I have had the RF injection. The back pain has finally decreased but it took 12 days for that pain to go away.
I still am experiencing a large increase in my RSD pain. The pain has been unbearable, to the point of wanting to go to the hospital but I know there is nothing the hospital can do so I find myself just waiting for this nightmare to go away.
My toes have gone numb on the right side (The side that they treated) and I have extreme muscle fatigue in the right leg.
At this point in time, I would not recommend this treatment, in fact I would say stay away from any doctor that recommends it.

Still no benefits and lots of extra pain. =(

Hang in there. Sounds like absolute torture instead of treatment. I know this isn't a pleasant time for you, but if you can't stand the pain please go back to the doctor who gave you the injections and tell him/her that you have increased pain. I don't think more pain is what s/he was going for. It's the wrong outcome and you need to tell the doctor.