An ancient treatment for present-day surgery: Percutaneously freezing sensory nerves for treatment of postsurgical knee pain

The analgesic properties of cold therapy have been well known for many centuries. Cryoneurolysis of sensory peripheral nerves, in which the epineurium and perineurium resist freeze damage, allowing the structural scaffold to remain intact for normal axonal regeneration and remyelination to occur, has been used to treat pain for many decades. Chronic knee pain due to osteoarthritis is a common condition associated with significant disability among the elderly. Because no single treatment modality has been shown to be effective for treatment of knee pain secondary to osteoarthritis, treatment usually involves a combination of nonpharmacologic (including total knee arthroscopy) and pharmacologic therapies.
Source: Techniques in Regional Anesthesia and Pain Management - Category: Anesthesiology Authors: Source Type: research