WHAT IS RFA?
A lumbar radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is an outpatient procedure for treating low back, buttock, hip, and groin pain. It is also called lumbar facet thermal coagulation or rhizotomy.
WHAT ARE LUMBAR FACET JOINTS?
The low back area of the spine is called the lumbar region, which is composed of 5 bones, called vertebrae. When two bones meet one another, it is known as a joint. In the spine, these joints are called facet joints. The facet joints help to guide your spine when you move. Each joint is about the side of a thumbnail. These joints are named for the two bones they connect and the side of the spine where they are found. The right L4-5 facet joint, for example, joins the 4th and 5th lumbar vertebrae on the right side. Medial branch nerves are found near the facet joints and they communicate pain from the joint. They tell the brain when the facet joints have been injured or are experiencing pain.
HOW DO I KNOW IF I HAVE LUMBAR FACET PAIN?
If you have pain in one or more of these areas, and it has lasted longer than two months, you may have lumbar facet pain.
Common tests such as x-rays or MRls may not always show if a facet joint is causing pain.The best way to diagnose facet pain is to block the pain signal in a medial branch nerve with a local anesthetic (numbing medicine).
HOW LONG
CAN I EXPECT PAIN RELIEF?
Nerves regenerate after an RFA, but how long this takes varies. Your pain may or may not return when the nerves regenerate. If it does, another RFA can be done.
WHAT IS LUMBAR FACET JOINT PAIN?
You may feel pain if a lumbar facet joint is injured or has inflammation. Sometimes it feels like muscle tension. Other times it can be severe pain. The cartilage inside the joint may be injured. Other times only connecting ligaments surrounding the joint are injured. Facet pain also depends on which joint is affected. Lumbar facet joint pain can occur in an area from your low back down to your buttocks, groin and hips.
WHAT IS A LUMBAR RFA?
RFA uses radiofrequency energy to disrupt nerve function. When this is done to a lumbar medial branch nerve, the nerve can no longer transmit pain from an injured facet joint.
