- Specialty Procedures
- /Hip • Knee
COOLIEF is a minimally-invasive, outpatient procedure designed to target only the sensory nerves directly responsible for causing a patient's knee or hip pain. Studies indicate that COOLIEF provides patients suffering from chronic knee or hip pain an average of 12 months of relief. Furthermore, during the 12 months of relief, patients’ dependency on medications decreases and they notice an improvement in their mobility and up to a 50-80% decrease in pain. COOLIEF has been approved by the FDA to treat arthritic pain related to the knee and hip.
COOLIEF offers patients suffering from chronic pain an outpatient non-surgical, minimally-invasive solution for chronic pain in the hip or knee. As a result of treatment, patients may experience improved mobility, long-term pain relief (around 12 months), and a quicker recovery period than is seen with surgery.
Who Needs It
Traditionally, individuals suffering with chronic pain have relied on prescription medications and/or over-the-counter treatments to ease their pain. Although many of these medications can be effective in relieving some of the pain, they are not able to target the nerves responsible for causing the pain. Furthermore, these medications and treatments frequently have troublesome side effects. Some of these side effects include:
- Constipation;
- Difficulty breathing;
- Dependency;
- Addiction;
- Fatigue;
- A slower recovery;
- Nausea; and/or
- Vomiting.
How Does It Work
The COOLIEF procedure is performed using fluoroscopic and ultrasound guidance; as the patient's nerve tissue is heated, water circulates through the COOLIEF device.The nerve thereafter can not conduct the pain sensation from inside the hip or knee joint to the brain. The patient loses no sensation to the skin around the joint. This procedure targets these sensory nerves that are causing the pain.