Skip to main content
AAPM&R 2025 Main banner
JFK
Final Program


Official Program
Icon Legend
This session is not in your schedule.
This session is in your schedule. Click again to remove it.
Presentation Icons
On Demand
On Demand
In-Person
In-Person
Livestream
Livestream
Invite Only
Invite Only
Ticketed
Ticketed
Coffee Break
Coffee Break
Meal
Meal
Reception
Reception
Rate ePoster

Pain and Spine Medicine

The Impact of Cervical Central and/or Foraminal Stenosis on Radiofrequency Ablation for Management of Cervical Spondylosis Related Neck Pain

Saturday, October 25, 2025
8:00 AM - 9:15 AM MT
Location: Kiosk 10

    Poster Presenter(s)

  • Ethan A. Price

    Post-baccalaureate Researcher
    Oberlin College
    Amherst, Ohio

    • Co-Author(s)

  • Zeinab Mohamed, PhD

    Assistant professor of Statistics and Data Science
    Oberlin College
    Avon Lake, Ohio

  • AS

    Ali Shakir, MD

    Spine & Sports Physiatrist
    Ohio Rehabilitation Center II
    Hudson, Ohio

Disclosure(s):
Ethan A. Price: No financial relationships to disclose
Zeinab Mohamed, PhD: No financial relationships to disclose
Ali Shakir, MD: No financial relationships to disclose
Background and/or Objectives: This study aimed to determine the impact of cervical central and/or foraminal stenosis on therapeutic response to cervical facet joint radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in the treatment of cervical facet pain.

Design: This is a retrospective cohort study of subjects who underwent their first cervical facet joint RFA from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2024. Data from subjects were divided into groups based on the presence of cervical central and/or foraminal stenosis seen on cervical spine MRI study. Bayesian hierarchical modeling was employed to assess relationship between cervical central and/or foraminal stenosis and numerical pain score reduction.

Setting : All procedures were performed under fluoroscopic guidance in a single community-based physical medicine and rehabilitation clinic.

Participants : 95 patients who underwent their first cervical RFA to address their facet mediated neck pain.

Interventions: Not Applicable

Main Outcome Measures: Change in self-reported numerical pain score from initial pain score before procedure and pain score 1 month following procedure.

Results: 95 total subjects, 61 subjects had none to mild central and/or foraminal stenosis (no stenosis group), and 34 subjects had moderate to severe central and/or foraminal stenosis (stenosis group). No stenosis group had a mean pre-procedure pain score of 6.72 (SD=1.64), and mean reduction in pain score following procedure of 4.05 (SD=0.21). Stenosis group had mean pre-procedure pain score of 6.59 (SD=1.44), and mean reduction in pain score following procedure was 3.67 (SD=0.29). The estimated mean difference between groups was 0.38 (SD = 0.36), with a 95% credible interval (-0.322 , 1.08). Given that the credible interval includes zero, the Bayesian analysis does not provide strong evidence of a significant difference in pain reduction between groups.

Conclusions: Our findings trended toward the no stenosis group experiencing slightly greater reduction in pain scores following RFA, however this difference did not reach statistical significance.