Clinical Trials

Inclusion Criteria

• Must be able to provide informed consent
• Willing to participate in pain rehabilitation and pain management programs provided here at Mayo Clinic or elsewhere
• Has had chronic debilitating kidney pain for >6 months
• Other approaches to pain management will have been appropriately considered and used when indicated and feasible as deemed by the PI
• Meets objective measures as assessed by opiate dependence or unwillingness to take opiates, partial or full medical disability or decreased quality of life
• Must be able to travel to site
• Ideal candidates will have (unilateral or bilateral) single renal arteries and lack a hemodynamically significant renal artery stenosis and presence of suitable renal artery calibers of 4-7mm
• Screening CT angiogram of renal arteries provides sufficient renal imaging to exclude genitourinary obstruction, tumor, surgically active nephrolithiasis or other clinically significant pathologies associated with kidney pain
  • CTA will specifically delineate renal anatomy and presence of low accessory arteries (not always seen-special imaging cuts will be performed to identify such cases)

Exclusion Criteria

• Has renal artery anatomy that is ineligible for treatment including
  • Lacks at least one renal artery for each kidney with ≥ 4 mm diameter and with ≥ 20 mm treatable length prior to a significant arterial branch
  • Renal artery stenosis (>50%) or renal artery aneurysm in renal artery
  • A history of prior renal artery intervention including balloon angioplasty or stenting
  • Renal arteries which contain calcification or abnormality which does not allow at least 4 RF ablations
• Has a confounding medical condition which may adversely affect the safety of the participant in the opinion of the PI
• Unable to provide informed consent in the opinion of the PI or collaborator