Percutaneous radiofrequency lesioning of sensory branches of the obturator and femoral nerves for the treatment of hip joint pain

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The sensory innervation of the hip joint includes the sensory articular branches of the obturator and femoral nerves. In this report, we retrospectively evaluated 14 cases in which hip joint pain was treated by percutaneous radiofrequency lesioning of sensory branches of obturator and/or femoral nerves. METHODS: Fourteen patients who had hip joint pain and underwent percutaneous radiofrequency lesioning of sensory branches of obturator and/or femoral nerves were studied. In all cases, intra-articular hip joint block or articular branch block of obturator nerve with local anesthesia was transiently effective. Radiofrequency lesioning was performed at 75 degrees C to 80 degrees C for 90 seconds using an RFG-3B generator and Sluijter-Mehta cannulae kit (Radionics, Burlington, MA) for the obturator nerve in 9 patients and for both the obturator and femoral nerves in 5 patients. To assess pain intensity, a visual analog scale (VAS) was used. RESULTS: The VAS scores before and after the radiofrequency lesioning were 6.8 +/- 0.9 and 2.7 +/- 1.3, respectively. Twelve patients (86%) reported at least 50% relief of pain for 1 to 11 months. There were no side effects or motor weakness observed. CONCLUSIONS: Percutaneous radiofrequency lesioning of sensory branches of the obturator and femoral nerves is an alternative treatment in patients with hip joint pain, especially in those where operation is not applicable.