Does radiofrequency ablation (RFA) epiphysiodesis affect adjacent joint cartilage?

Area of Science:

• Orthopedics
• Surgical Innovation
• Pediatric Surgery

Background:

• Epiphysiodesis is a surgical procedure to stop bone growth at the physis.
• Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is an emerging technique for tissue ablation.
• Assessing the safety of RFA for epiphysiodesis on adjacent joint cartilage is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the safety of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for epiphysiodesis.
• To determine if RFA disrupts the growth plate without damaging adjacent articular cartilage.
• To test the hypothesis that RFA epiphysiodesis is a safe procedure.

Main Methods:

• Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) epiphysiodesis was performed on growing pig tibiae physis.
• Tibiae underwent ablation for varying durations (8, 16, and 24 minutes).
• Ex vivo MRI (1.5 T) with T1-weighted, T2-weighted, and water content sequences assessed articular cartilage integrity.

Main Results:

• MRI revealed intensity changes in experimentally burned articular cartilage.
• No articular cartilage damage was observed in 40 tibiae treated with 8-minute RFA epiphysiodesis.
• Tibiae subjected to longer ablation times (16 and 24 minutes) also exhibited intact joint cartilage.

Conclusions:

• Epiphysiodesis using radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is safe for adjacent articular cartilage.
• RFA can be safely applied to the growing physis in pigs.
• The study supports RFA as a viable and safe technique for epiphysiodesis.