Table 1.

Comparison of continuousvs.pulse RF

	Continuous RF	Pulsed RF
First used	Shealy 1975	Sluijter and others 1998
Application	Continuous RF energy for 90 s	RF energy in pulses of 20 ms with wash-out period of 480 ms
Needle tip	Parallel and by the side of target	Perpendicular, pointing at the target
Tissue temperature achieved	Up to 80°C	Up to 42°C
Proposed mechanism of action	Non-selective thermal destruction	Neurobiological - by strong electrical fields
Side effects	Deafferentation syndrome	No side effects observed so far
Duration of effect	Potentially long lasting (months)	? Relatively short duration
Use on peripheral nerves	Cannot be used -contraindicated	Has been effectively used in peripheral mono-neuropathies