Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Mar 26, 2021; 9(9): 2153-2159
Published online Mar 26, 2021. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i9.2153
Clinical efficacy of ultrasound-guided pulsed radiofrequency combined with ganglion impar block for treatment of perineal pain
Shui-Qing Li, Ling Jiang, Li-Gang Cui, Dong-Lin Jia
Shui-Qing Li, Dong-Lin Jia, Department of Pain Medicine, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing 100191, China
Ling Jiang, Li-Gang Cui, Department of Ultrasound, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing 100191, China
Author contributions: Li SQ and Jia DL designed the study; Li SQ, Jia DL, and Jiang L participated in the analysis, interpretation of the data and manuscript drafting; Li SQ, Jia DL, Jiang L, and Cui LG revised the article critically for important intellectual content.
Institutional review board statement: This study was reviewed and approved by Peking University Third Hospital.
Informed consent statement: Informed consent was obtained from all patients included in the study.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement – checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement – checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Dong-Lin Jia, MD, Surgeon, Department of Pain Medicine, Peking University Third Hospital, No. 49 North Garden Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100191, China. jiadlin@126.com
Received: January 5, 2021
Peer-review started: January 5, 2021
First decision: March 8, 2021
Revised: March 10, 2021
Accepted: March 15, 2021
Article in press: March 15, 2021
Published online: March 26, 2021
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Despite of the efficacy of ganglion impar block alone or pulsed radiofrequency alone for treating perineal pain, the puncture is usually conducted under the guidance of X-ray or computed tomography imaging. The efficacy of ganglion impar block combined with pulsed radiofrequency (GIB-PRF) for treating perineal pain remains unclear.

Research motivation

This study provides references to the clinical practices of real-time ultrasound-guided GIB-PRF in patients with perineal pain or coccygeal pain.

Research objectives

This study evaluated the safety and clinical efficacy of real-time ultrasound-guided GIB-PRF in treating perineal pain.

Research methods

Thirty patients with perineal pain who were treated by GIB-PRF with guided by real-time ultrasound imaging were analyzed. Complications were recorded to observe the safety of the treatment. VAS scores at 24 h before and after the treatment, and 1, 3, and 6 mo later were performed to evaluate clinical efficacy.

Research results

Ultrasound-guided GIB-PRF was performed successfully in all patients, and no complications occurred. Compared with pretreatment VAS scores, the VAS scores significantly decreased at the four time points after the GIB-PRF. Compared with the VAS score at 24 h after the GIB-PRF, the scores were slightly lower at 1 and 3 mo and significantly lower at 6 mo after treatment. There was a tendency toward lower VAS scores at 6 mo after GIB-PRF compared with those at 1 and 3 mo.

Research conclusions

Ultrasound-guided GIB-PRF was a safe and effective way to treat perineal pain. The 6-mo short-term clinical outcomes were favorable.

Research perspectives

The findings from this study help to establish and provide the groundwork for further studies to compare outcomes of block alone or pulsed radiofrequency alone vs the combination of these two treatments and to investigate the long-term outcomes.