Phenol Neurolysis of Genicular Nerves for Osteoarthritic Knee Pain
Status:
Not yet recruiting
Trial end date:
2023-10-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
As the aging and obese populations continue to increase, there is a rapidly growing number of
people at risk for knee osteoarthritis. Treatment typically starts conservatively with
analgesics, physical therapy, and bracing. Intra-articular injections with corticosteroids
and/or viscosupplementation may also be utilized in those with persistent knee pain.
Genicular nerve radiofrequency ablation (GNRFA) is an increasingly employed procedure for
refractory osteoarthritic knee pain with promising efficacy for pain relief. However, due to
its reliance on expensive equipment, additional staff, and need for specialized rooms (eg.
fluoroscopy suite), GNRFA is a costly procedure with limited availability. Chemical
neurolysis is an alternative method of nerve ablation using alcohol or phenol utilized in the
management of pain. Recent literature has demonstrated good efficacy for pain relief and
function with chemical ablation of the genicular nerves using both alcohol and phenol.
This study is a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled pilot study to assess the
efficacy of phenol neurolysis of the genicular nerves for pain and function due to refractory
osteoarthritic knee pain. We hypothesize that a significant improvement in both pain and
function will be observed with chemical neurolysis of the genicular nerves using 6% phenol
compared to placebo.