{
  "abstract": "Objective To assess the effects of radiofrequency (RF) denervation for chronic low back pain (LBP) from facet joint, sacroiliac joint, discogenic and non-specific pain.Design Systematic review and meta-analysis.Data sources We searched Medline, Embase, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, PsycINFO, ClinicalTrials.gov and WHO ICTRP up to 18 February 2025 for randomised controlled trials (RCTs).Study selection, data extraction and synthesis Pairs of reviewers independently selected studies, extracted data and assessed risk of bias (Cochrane RoB 2). Meta-analyses with clinically homogeneous studies were performed and certainty of evidence was assessed using Grades of Recommendation, Assessment, Development and Evaluation.Results 55 RCTs (n=4394) were included; many outcomes were at some risk of bias. Low to moderate certainty evidence suggested small improvements in pain and function with RF denervation versus sham for facet joint pain, sacroiliac, discogenic and non-specific chronic LBP. None exceeded predefined minimally clinically important between-group differences, suggesting limited clinical relevance.Conclusions RF denervation showed small improvements in pain and function compared with sham, steroid injection or standard care, but the effects did not reach clinically meaningful thresholds and the certainty of evidence was very low to moderate. Additional research is needed to clarify the effects of RF denervation and guide clinical decision-making.PROSPERO registration number CRD42023460743.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Neurosurgery, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark",
        "Center for Experimental Neuroscience (CENSE) and CENSE-Spine, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus Universitet Faculty of Health, Aarhus, Denmark"
      ],
      "name": "Kamilla My Thanh Lê Truong"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Science, Amsterdam Movement Sciences Research Institute, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands"
      ],
      "name": "Esther Maas"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Neurosurgery, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark",
        "Center for Experimental Neuroscience (CENSE) and CENSE-Spine, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus Universitet Faculty of Health, Aarhus, Denmark"
      ],
      "name": "Mikkel Mylius Rasmussen"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Science, Amsterdam Movement Sciences Research Institute, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands",
        "Department of Epidemiology and Data Science, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam Movement Sciences Research Institute, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands"
      ],
      "name": "Raymond Ostelo"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Research Institute Orton, Orton Orthopaedic Hospital, Helsinki, Finland"
      ],
      "name": "Heikki Hurri"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Human Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands",
        "Physiotherapy & Occupational Therapy, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark"
      ],
      "name": "Maurits W van Tulder"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Current evidence on radiofrequency denervation for chronic low back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis",
  "uid": "6d8779dc-4efe-5bbc-b78e-8964bf8d8075"
}