3 o'clock trivia

by Julia Kyles, CPC on Oct 16, 2018
Kayla Lee, CPC, Auditing of Compliance & Education, had a brain teaser for attendees of the pain management conference during the Advanced Specialty Coding, Compliance & Reimbursement Symposium, Oct. 16: When was radiofrequency ablation first introduced?
 
If you guessed in the 1980s, you are off by half a century. The technique in use as early as 1931, Lee explained.
 
The first known use of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) was in 1931 when Krischner treated trigeminal neuralgia with thermocoagulation of the gassaerian ganglion
 
The first commercial machine for radiofreqency ablation wasn't created until the end of the 1950s, Lee continued.
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