Student Eric Kawana (Medicine) and Vladislav Zhitny (NYU Anesthesiology Resident/UNLV Medicine Graduate) published a . The efficacy of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in treating chronic thoracic and abdominal pain conditions was assessed. The study, following PRISMA guidelines, gathered 32 articles from 1992 to 2022, including observational studies, cohort studies, case reports, case series, and clinical trials. The articles focused on RFA's effectiveness in addressing conditions like spinal lesions, postsurgical thoracic pain, abdominal cancers, and pancreatitis. RFA showed notable efficacy, particularly in cases of spinal osteoid osteomas, osteoblastomas, lung cancer, and pancreatic cancer, with an average efficacy rate of 84% (ranging from 55.8% to 100%). The review supports RFA as a viable option for managing abdominal and thoracic pain, emphasizing the need for future randomized controlled trials to further investigate its efficacy across different modalities.
