Unipolar Versus Bipolar Radiofrequency Ablation in Knee Osteoarthritis Pain

August 29, 2026 updated by: Mohammed Said ElSharkawy, Tanta University

Unipolar Versus Bipolar Radiofrequency Ablation in Knee Osteoarthritis Pain: A Randomized Single-Blinded Trial

This study aims to compare the efficacy of unipolar versus bipolar radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in knee osteoarthritis pain.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most common underlying causes of chronic knee pain resulting in loss of ability. Chronic knee pain due to OA is a debilitating disease. Many therapeutic options have been used to manage this pain such as physical therapy, non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), tramadol, opioids, intraarticular hyaluronic acid, and steroids.

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) appears to be effective for treatment of knee pain. It acts by interrupting the pain conduction through production of a thermal lesion to interrupt nociceptive signals.

A diagnostic genicular nerve block with local anesthetic is performed before genicular nerve RFA, and a positive result indicates the need for genicular RFA In conventional monopolar RFA (MRFA) technique, the localization of genicular nerves is one through sensory stimulation at the junction of epicondyle with the shaft of femur bone (near periosteum).

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
64

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Locations

  • Egypt
    • El-Gharbia
      • Tanta, El-Gharbia, Egypt, 31527

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age > 50 years.
  • Both genders.
  • Diagnosed with chronic knee osteoarthritis (KOA) according to the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria and confirmed with plain radiography as the gold standard for the diagnosis of KOA.
  • One chronic KOA pain not responding to other treatments as physiotherapy, oral analgesics, and intraarticular injection with hyaluronic acids or steroids.
  • Kellgren-Lawrence grade (II-IV).

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Chronic knee pain induced by infection, inflammation, tumors, and fractures.
  • Prior knee surgery.
  • Acute knee pain.
  • Connective tissue diseases.
  • Neurologic or psychiatric disorders.
  • Intra-articular knee corticosteroid or hyaluronic acids in the past 3 months.
  • Anticoagulant medication.
  • Local infection of the site of intervention.
  • Cognitive impairment.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Unipolar RFA (URFA) Group
Patients will undergo radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of three genicular nerves (superior medial, superior lateral and inferior medial) with one cannula.
Procedure: Unipolar radiofrequency ablation
Patients will undergo radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of three genicular nerves (superior medial, superior lateral and inferior medial) with one cannula.
Experimental: Bipolar RFA (BRFA) Group
Patients will undergo radiofrequency ablation (RFA) as unipolar RFA but with two cannulas.
Procedure: Bipolar radiofrequency ablation
Patients will undergo radiofrequency ablation (RFA) as unipolar RFA but with two cannulas.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Proportion of successful responders with a reduction 50% of pain
Time Frame: 24 weeks after the procedure
The proportion of successful responders with a reduction 50% of Visual Analog Scale (VAS) will be recorded.
24 weeks after the procedure

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Degree of pain
Time Frame: 24 weeks after the procedure
Knee pain will be measured by visual Analog Scale (VAS) (0 - no pain to 10-worst imaginable pain) at baseline, 1, 4, 12 and 24 weeks after the procedure during movement.
24 weeks after the procedure
Oxford Knee Score (OKS)
Time Frame: 24 weeks after the procedure
The functional changes in the knee will be assessed by Oxford Knee Score (OKS). It is simple, valid, self-administered, joint-specific 12-item questionnaires ranging from 12 to 60, with 12 referred to the best result.
24 weeks after the procedure

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Tanta University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
August 29, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
June 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
June 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
August 24, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
August 24, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
August 27, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
September 1, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
August 29, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
August 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 36265PR110/6/26

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

The data will be available upon a reasonable request from the corresponding author after the end of study for one year.

IPD Sharing Time Frame

After the end of study for one year.

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

The data will be available upon a reasonable request from the corresponding author.

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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