2018 Volume 25 Issue 4 Pages 273-277
Pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) stimulation is a therapeutic modality with many potential applications in pain management. Here, this was demonstrated in a patient with costal cartilage trauma. The patient was a professional athlete in his 20s who had damaged his costal cartilage during training. He could not perform his routine activities because of pain associated with movement, particularly during the initial motion. Five days after the injury, PRF was applied to the intercostal nerves using the ultrasound-guided, electrical-stimulation method and an in-plane needling technique with a microconvex probe. The patient's pain was reduced, and he could perform his normal activities. In many cases of costal cartilage trauma, treatment is conservative. Consequently, patients endure pain associated with movement until they fully recover. Since PRF has a low risk of causing nervous tissue denaturation, it is an effective treatment for the nociceptive pain associated with costal cartilage trauma, and is also likely to be safe and advantageous in length of the effect time.
