Pain of Chronic Sacro-Iliac Joint Atrhopathy: Managed Successfully With Conventional Bipolar Radiofrequency Procedure: A Case Report

Background: Chronic sacroiliac (SI) joint pain constitutes 16% to 30% of the total prevalence of chronic low back pain, which is commonly unilateral. Apart from conservative management, various interventional pain management procedures have been reported. Intraarticular deposteroid injection has been described as the most evidence-based, but different various radio frequency (RF) procedures have been described with varied success. Conventional bipolar RF is relatively new in the management of SI joint pain. We have successfully managed pain of the SI joint origin.

Case Report: A 53-year-old female who presented with unilateral back pain with radiation to the leg was diagnosed with pain from SI joint arthropathy by clinical and diagnostic interventional procedures. She was treated conservatively without any result. Deposteriod gave good but very short-term relief. She underwent a bipolar RF procedure. An RF needle was placed at the L5 medial branch, and 2 were placed on each lateral side of the sacral foramina for the lateral branches of the S1, S2, and S3 nerve roots. Conventional RF was performed at 80C for 90 seconds.

Discussion: This case report supports the use of bipolar RF nerve ablation for chronic sacroiliac joint pain that does abate with deposteroid injection. In this patient, the Rt L5 medial branch nerve was ablated using conventional RF technique, followed by conventional bipolar RF nerve ablation for the S1, S2 and S3 lateral branches. We recommend the use of bipolar RF nerve ablation for chronic sacroiliac joint pain that has an inadequate response to deposteroid injection.