BACKGROUND Chronic lumbar zygapophysial joint pain is a common cause of chronic low back pain. Percutaneous radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is one of the effective management options; however, the results from the traditional RFA need to be improved in certain cases. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of percutaneous radiofrequency ablation under endoscopic guidance (ERFA) for chronic low back pain secondary to facet joint arthritis. METHODS This is a prospective study enrolled 60 patients. The cases were randomized into two groups: 30 patients in the control group underwent traditional percutaneous radiofrequency ablation, others underwent ERFA. The lumbar visual analog scale (VAS), MacNab score, and postoperative complications were used to evaluate the outcomes. All outcome assessments were performed at postoperative 1 day, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months. RESULTS There was no difference between the two groups in preoperative VAS (P > 0.05). VAS scores, except the postoperative first day, in all other postoperative time points were significantly lower than preoperative values each in both groups (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference between the two groups in VAS at 1 day, 1 month, and 3 months after surgery (P > 0.05). However, the EFRA demonstrated significant benefits at the time points of 3 months and 6 months (P > 0.05). The MacNab scores of 1-year follow-up in the ERFA group were higher than that in the control group (P < 0.05). The incidence of complications in the ERFA group was significantly less than that in the control group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS ERFA may achieve more accurate and definite denervation on the nerves, which leads to longer lasting pain relief.

中文翻译：

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内窥镜下根治术治疗慢性腰椎zy突关节疼痛。

背景技术慢性腰关节疼痛是慢性下腰痛的常见原因。经皮射频消融（RFA）是有效的治疗选择之一；但是，在某些情况下，需要改进传统RFA的结果。这项研究的目的是研究内镜引导下经皮射频消融治疗小关节关节炎所致的慢性下腰痛的效果。方法这是一项前瞻性研究，招募了60名患者。将病例随机分为两组：对照组中的30例接受了传统的经皮射频消融治疗，其他患者进行了ERFA。腰椎视觉模拟量表（VAS），MacNab评分和术后并发症用于评估结局。所有结局评估均在术后1天进行，1个月，3个月，6个月和12个月。结果两组患者术前VAS无差异（P> 0.05）。除术后第一天外，其他所有手术时间点的VAS评分均显着低于两组的术前值（P <0.05）。两组在术后1天，1个月和3个月时的VAS差异均无统计学意义（P> 0.05）。但是，EFRA在3个月和6个月的时间点显示出显着的收益（P> 0.05）。ERFA组的1年随访MacNab评分高于对照组（P <0.05）。ERFA组的并发症发生率明显低于对照组（P <0.05）。