Effects of Radiofrequency Energy

Despite its popularity and promising short-term outcomes, radiofrequency (RF) technology has not been extensively researched in terms of its effect on articular cartilage. Over the past few years, several studies have investigated, with animal articular cartilage, the effects of RF energy. Turner et al17 examined RF versus a shaver on sheep knees and found bipolar RF superior to mechanical debridement at 24 weeks. Lu et al,10 experimenting with custom partial-thickness cartilage defect, demonstrated damage with monopolar RF at 24 weeks compared with curettage and microfracture. Kaplan and Uribe4 examined bipolar RF on fresh in vitro human cartilage and deter-mined RF was “safe for use on articular cartilage. ” Lu et al8 examined, in vitro, bovine cartilage with a jig and man-ual application. They showed that bipolar RF penetrated much deeper than did monopolar RF when standardized clefts were treated. Edwards et al2 and Lu et al9 found greater penetration by confocal microscopy into human articular cartilage with bipolar RF than with monopolar RF. Two published clinical studies showed inconsistent results. Stein et al16 prospectively performed a knee chon-droplasty with and without electrocautery and conclude