BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Low back pain treatment may be either conservative or surgical. Current guidelines recommend conservative treatment for most cases, with drugs and rehabilitation, including physical medicine and psychological assistance. Invasive procedures may be justified if there are evidences of short and long term benefits, and minimally invasive techniques, such as radiofrequency, are modern and effective to relieve this pain. This study aimed at searching Brazilian literature about the use of pulsed radiofrequency to treat low back pain. CONTENTS: A literature survey was carried out with articles published from 2004 to 2010 in Portuguese and Spanish in LILACS, Scielo and Cochrane, Cinahl and Medline databases. CONCLUSION: Pulsed radiofrequency is an effective method to treat chronic low back pain, with low incidence of complications.
Low back pain; Pulsed radiofrequency treatment; Spine
