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Canadian Medical Association Journal logoLink to Canadian Medical Association Journal
. 1977 Jan 8;116(1):28–30.

Percutaneous radiofrequency lumbar rhizolysis (rhizotomy).

J A McCulloch, L W Organ
PMCID: PMC1879116  PMID: 137770

Abstract

Low back pain may arise from degenerative changes in the posterior joints of the lumbar spine. These joints are innervated by a branch of the posterior primary ramus, which follows an anatomically constant course. Pain impulses from these joints can be interrupted by coagulating this nerve with a radiofrequency wave, the probe having been placed in the area of the nerve percutaneously. Percutaneous lumbar rhizolysis was carried out under local anesthesia on an outpatient basis in 82 patients, most of whom had multiple level rhizolysis. Rhizolysis was successful in 67% of patients with mechanical low back pain without evidence of disc herniation and nerve-root compression or psychogenic pain, who had not previously undergone an operation for relief of the pain.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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