Ahmet Hilmi GÜNÜÇ
Annals of Clinical and Analytical Medicine - 2026;17(10):1017-1021
Aim: Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most common causes of chronic pain and disability in older adults. When patients have advanced knee OA and do not respond to conservative treatments, yet are not candidates for surgery, genicular nerve interventions have emerged as minimally invasive options. Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, records of 54 patients with end-stage knee OA and chronic knee pain who underwent genicular nerve ablation at a pain clinic were reviewed (29 patients received fluoroscopy-guided RFA under sedation, and 25 received ultrasound-guided injections of 6% phenol under local anesthesia). Pain was assessed on an 11-point Numeric Rating Scale, and knee function was measured using the Lequesne Index. These outcomes were recorded before the intervention and at the 3-month post-procedure follow-up. Results: By 3 months, both treatments produced significant pain relief and functional improvement. In the RFA group, mean NRS pain scores fell from 8.5 +/- 0.7 at baseline to 5.0 +/- 1.8 at 3 months. Similarly, the phenol group's NRS score dropped from 8.6 +/- 0.5 to 4.6 +/- 1.7. Lequesne Index scores improved in parallel: RFA patients went from 18.7 +/- 2.3 to 12.3 +/- 4.5, and phenol patients from 18.9 +/- 1.7 to 13.1 +/- 3.4. There were no statistically significant differences between the RFA and phenol groups. Conclusion: In this study, both genicular RFA and phenol neurolysis provided significant short-term pain reduction and functional improvement.
