A prospective, randomized, and double-blind study illustrated that Bupivacaine injection after pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) ablation can be used to offer instant relief in patients who need rapid pain reduction, without subjecting them to the risk of serious complications. Researchers aimed to evaluate the impact of Bupivacaine usage after PRF ablation on trigeminal facial pain.

Overall, 73 people suffering from trigeminal facial pain who had not responded to conservative treatment were randomly assigned to two groups. A total of 39 subjects in Group I and 34 subjects in Group II were incorporated. After undergoing PRF ablation operation, Group I patients received a 1 ml Bupivacaine injection.

Group II underwent the same procedure and was then administered a 1 ml injection of normal saline. Outcomes included analgesic effect, pain onset time, and pain alleviation duration as measured by a numerical pain rating scale. A similar duration of pain alleviation was noted in both groups. People in Group I had a faster onset of pain alleviation than patients in Group II, as shown in Table 1:

The injection of Bupivacaine alone had a substantial impact on the decrease in medication consumption, according to the binary logistic regression analysis. Hence, the combination of Bupivacaine and PRF therapy was effective for the management of trigeminal facial pain.