Radiofrequency Ablation: New Treatment For Chronic Pain Relief

For many types of rapid heartbeats, the preferred treatment is Radio frequency Ablation. In this outpatient non-surgical procedure, a small area of the nerve tissue is heated to decrease pain signals from that area. The procedure is conducted under guided CT imaging, with real-time, moving x-rays (fluoroscopy) displayed on a video screen. A catheter is inserted at the offending nerve site, then an electrical current produced by a radio wave is used for the heat-and-destroy mission, stopping the area from conducting the extra impulses that caused the rapid heartbeats.

Radio frequency ablation has a success rate of over 90 percent with a minimal risk of complications. Patients who have gone through the procedure are said to resume their normal function in just a few days. The procedure is done under mild sedation with local anaesthesia which causes very little discomfort or none at all. The chronic pain relief lasts for a relatively long period, from three to six months.

-Ramon Bravante