SIS Requests Needle Placement Images from Authors of the Dutch Mint Trial

On August 21, 2017, Dr. Timothy Maus, SIS President, sent a letter to the authors of the recent study Effect of Radiofrequency Denervation on Pain Intensity Among Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain: The Mint Randomized Clinical Trials. In the letter, SIS requests additional details regarding needle placement used in this radiofrequency neurotomy study. The study protocol stipulates that "it is standard of care… to make and save radiographic images of the needle positions” and indicates that an analysis of needle position was to be undertaken. However, data and images were not presented in the published study. Dr. Maus has asked the authors to provide access to all available images to ascertain whether anatomically correct, technically effective radiofrequency neurotomies were performed. Without these data, the results of the Mint study cannot be used to draw reliable conclusions about the effectiveness of the procedure.

Read the letter here.