Relative Effects of Various Factors on Ice Ball Formation and Ablation Zone Size During Ultrasound-Guided Percutaneous Cryoneurolysis: A Laboratory Investigation to Inform Clinical Practice and Future Research.

Percutaneous probe design can significantly influence the effective cryoneurolysis zone; visualizing a nerve fully encompassed in an ice ball does not guarantee adequate treatment to induce the desired Wallerian degeneration because ice forms at temperatures between 0 and -20 °C, whereas only temperatures below -20 °C induce Wallerian degeneration. The correlation between temperatures in isolated pieces of meat and perfused human tissue remains unknown, and further research to evaluate these findings in situ appears highly warranted.