Chronic knee pain is a leading cause of chronic
disability and its symptoms have a profound
impact on the lives of those suffering from it. Current
treatment modalities for chronic knee pain
include pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic
interventions. Genicular nerve blocks are a new
therapeutic alternative that have been shown
to relieve chronic knee pain and may provide
significant relief in patients who are either poor
surgical candidates or are unwilling to accept the
risks associated with surgery. Genicular nerve
blocks may provide long term pain relief for
chronic knee pain and radiofrequency ablation
(RFA) may not be necessary. This Institutional
Review Board (IRB) approved retrospective study
conducted at a single center university hospital
involved 44 patients aged 43 to 87 who received
genicular nerve blocks for chronic knee pain. The
primary purpose of this study was to determine if
genicular nerve blocks provide effective long term
pain relief for patients with chronic knee pain.
The numeric rating scale was used to measure
the patient’s knee pain at baseline, 30, 90, and
120 days post procedure. Patients experienced
a mean pain level of 7.43 out of 10 before the genicular
nerve block and 4.02 afterward representing
an average improvement of 42.6% in pain relief
overall post procedure follow-up. A t-test revealed
a statistically significant difference between the
mean pain score before and after the blocks (t =
8.534, P < 0.01). Overall, the patients experienced
significant pain relief of an average of 111.9 days
resulting in an average of 42.6 percent pain relief
post procedure follow-up. Out of the 44 patients,
15 (34.1%) underwent a RFA after receiving a
genicular nerve block procedure to further manage
their chronic knee pain symptoms. In conclusion,
we have found statistically significant evidence
that genicular nerve blocks provide effective
long-term pain relief for patients with chronic knee
pain. Therefore, for patients who are not surgical
candidates, genicular nerve blocks represent a
viable alternative treatment for knee pain.
Key words: Genicular nerve blocks, chronic knee
pain, genicular nerves, genicular nerve radiofrequency
ablation
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