Table 6.

Results Following Cervical Facet Joint Radiofrequency Ablation (Neurotomy) in WAD.

Author	Year	Study type	No of patients/procedures	Summary of findings
Lord54)	1996	Randomized, double-blind trial (Group 1: percutaneous radiofrequency neurotomy vs. Group 2: control)	24 patients (12 in each group)	Median time before the pain returned to at least 50% of the preoperative level: Group 1: 263 days, Group 2: 8 days in the control group. At 27 weeks, seven patients (Group 1) and one patient (Group 2) were free of pain.
McDonald60)	1999	Prospective, nonrandomized	28 patients	Complete relief of pain was obtained in 71% of patients. The median duration of relief after a first procedure—219 days (failures included) but 422 days (only successful cases included)
Sapir55)	2001	Prospective, nonrandomized comparative	60 patients (nonlitigant vs. litigant)	Reduction in visual analog pain scores was significant immediately after treatment (nonlitigants vs. litigants: 2.0 vs. 2.5, P=0.36) and at 1 year (nonlitigants vs. litigants: 2.9 vs. 4.0, P=0.05). One-year follow-up scores higher than immediate post-treatment scores (nonlitigants vs. litigants: 2.5 vs. 3.6)
Speldewinde59)	2011	Prospective, nonrandomized	282 patients (379 procedures)	76% successful procedures (at least 50% reduction of pain, for at least 2 months)
Cohen57)	2007	Retrospective series	92 patients (three centers)	Male: 50% and female: 62% success rate (at least 50% pain relief lasting at least 6 months)