A comparison of efficacy among different radiofrequency ablation techniques for the treatment of lumbar facet joint and sacroiliac joint pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis

•Three radiofrequency techniques were effective for up to 12 months.•For treating LFJ pain, cooled method was the most effective at 6 months.•For treating LFJ pain, thermal method was the second at 6 months.•For treating LFJ pain, pulsed method was the least effective at 6 months. To compare the efficacy of different radiofrequency techniques (thermal, pulsed, and cooled radiofrequency) for treating lumbar facet joint (LFJ) or sacroiliac joint (SIJ) pain. The inclusion criteria were as follows: (1) age > 18 years; (2) patients suffering from LFJ or SIJ pain; and (3) patients receiving radiofrequency treatments. Four electronic databases, including Pubmed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and ISI Web of Knowledge were systematically searched from inception until December 2019 for relevant articles. The search was conducted on 2 January 2020. When the outcomes among articles showed heterogeneity, then a random-effects model was adopted to calculate the effect size; otherwise, a fixed-effects model was adopted. All the three techniques showed significant improvements in LFJ or SIJ pain for up to 12 months compared with the baseline level. However, no significant differences among the three techniques were observed at any follow-up visits except for possibly a trend for variance in efficacy. For treating LFJ pain, cooled radiofrequency was the most effective, followed by thermal radiofrequency and then pulsed radiofrequency as the least respectively for the follow-up visit at 6 months. No serious complications were reported after receiving treatment using the three techniques. Sequentially, cooled radiofrequency followed by thermal radiofrequency and then pulsed radiofrequency for treating LFJ pain were identified as most to least effective at the 6-month follow-up.