Maggie McKay (Host): If you suffer from chronic knee pain, you know how debilitating it can be, affecting so many daily tasks that we often take for granted. Managing your pain can also be tricky. There is encouraging news though, because now there is a new non-surgical treatment that could help. Joining me today to talk about this option is Dr. Ryan Galica, a Pain Management Physician at Tideland's Health. Thank you for being here, Doctor.

Ryan Galica, MD (Guest): Glad to be here.

Host: Chronic knee pain often interferes greatly with a person's quality of life. What causes chronic knee pain?

Dr. Galica: The most common cause of chronic knee pain is osteoarthritis, which can be a debilitating problem for people that can decrease their function and enjoyment of life.

Host: And is this a common condition you see?

Dr. Galica: Yes, it's very common. Many people suffer from chronic knee pain as they get older due to osteoarthritis. So it's something that we see and treat in the clinic all the time.

Host: Can other things like you know, playing tennis for years or different sports activities, can that cause it?

Dr. Galica: Absolutely. That can be another cause of chronic knee pain. Those activities may contribute to the development of arthritis or may cause other issues with the knee cartilage or ligaments and muscles surrounding the knee.

Host: But the good news is Tidelands Health now has an innovative way to treat chronic knee pain, cooled radio frequency treatment. Tell me about this treatment and how does it work.

Dr. Galica: Yeah, absolutely. So this treatment is a way to target the nerves that send pain from the knee joint. And basically what we do is we deactivate them using a radio frequency signal that causes heat and creates a lesion on the nerve so it can't send that pain signal until the nerve grows back. And that can take about six months to a year or so. It can provide long lasting relief for patients and can be repeated if needed.

Host: How many patients generally, would you say half or a fourth have to come back and do it again years later?

Dr. Galica: Yeah. Eventually the pain does return. But typically the results last longer than things like steroid injections and visco supplementation, or gel injections for the knee. So it is a long lasting treatment. It's really good for people that have failed those other options, such as steroids and gel injections for the knee. And again, it's a non-surgical procedure, that's done using an x-ray and small needles to perform the procedure.

Host: Dr. Galica, what are the benefits of this type of treatment?

Dr. Galica: The benefits of the treatment would be reduced pain and improved function, being able to enjoy the activities that patients want to participate in, as well as decreased need for medications that could potentially expose the patient to side effects.

Host: And does a patient have to stay in the hospital overnight for this treatment?

Dr. Galica: No, this is an outpatient procedure. Typically it's done in two sessions. The first session is a diagnostic procedure that the patient comes in to the office for. I numb up the nerves that send pain from the knee with some numbing medicine. And this provides temporary relief while that medication is working, which is maybe like two to four hours.

The patient after receiving that numbing medicine goes back home for the day and evaluates if their pain is better or not. If they get substantial relief, they come back on another day and we perform the actual COOLIEF procedure, the ablation procedure. Which again, takes about 20 minutes or so the patient goes home afterwards and we await the results.

The results are often not immediate with the procedure, but slowly set in, in the weeks, following that procedure.

Host: That sounds amazing. So what is the downtime generally? I mean, before people can say, get back to sports or, you know, just their daily activities.

Dr. Galica: Well, there are no major restrictions as far as activity following the procedure. It's really whatever the patient is feeling up to. The only real restriction after the procedure is not to submerge the area in water until the needle sites heal. But otherwise if the patient is feeling up to it, they can continue with all of their normal activities and recovery and pain after the procedure is usually pretty minimal.

Host: It sounds so encouraging. Who is the ideal candidate to get this treatment?

Dr. Galica: So the ideal candidate for this procedure would be someone who has tried other treatments for knee pain, more conservative things, starting with simple over the counter medications like Tylenol or anti-inflammatory medications. Maybe they've tried steroid injections or gel injections for the knee. And those may not be working for them, or they're not working as well as they would like. Those would be the types of people we would consider for this procedure. Other people that are great candidates for this are people that have really severe arthritis and need a knee replacement, but can't have one for one reason or another. Sometimes it's a medical reason. Sometimes the patient strongly doesn't want to have a knee replacement. This could be another option for them. It's also an option for patients who've already had a knee replacement who are still suffering from bad knee pain. They also are very good candidates for this procedure.

Host: So it sounds like a lot of people could benefit from it. It sounds very promising. A lot of people suffering from chronic pain want to avoid surgery, or like you mentioned, avoid taking opioid based medications. So are the results from this new treatment, just as good or better than those traditional treatment options?

Dr. Galica: Oftentimes the results of this procedure are comparable or maybe even better than taking chronic pain medication to help treat knee pain.

Host: And what type of results have you seen in patients so far?

Dr. Galica: So far results are very promising. Everyone's a little different, but definitely have been seeing some very promising results from patients with major improvements in their pain that are very happy with the results of the procedure.

Host: It sounds like a win all the way around.

Dr. Galica: Yeah, it's a great option for patients with minimal downsides or side effects. So, it's something definitely worth considering for people who are suffering from chronic knee pain, who are just looking for another option to try and get a handle on it, get it under control.

Host: That's awesome. Well, thank you so much. This has been so informative, Dr. Galica, thank you for your time and sharing your knowledge.

Dr. Galica: I'm glad to be here. It's my pleasure.

Host: Once again, that's Dr. Ryan Galica, Pain Management Physician at Tidelands Health.

If you'd like to schedule an appointment, call 1-866-Tidelands, or learn more at tidelandshealth.org. And if you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels and check out our full podcast library for topics of interest to you. This is Better Health Podcast. I'm Maggie McKay. Thanks for listening.