Comparative Evaluation of the Results of Facet Joint Injections

Plain-language summary

Low back pain affects 60 to 90% of the total population. It is one of the most common causes of disability in adults. Low back pain can be originated from a wide variety of structures, and the facet joint is one of these structures. It is thought that 21 to 41% of low back pain originates from the facet joint. A wide variety of conservative treatments, including intra-articular injections, are used to treat low back pain originating from the facet joint. However, there is still no consensus on the most effective treatment method. With appropriate patient selection, facet joint injections can provide significant improvements in patients' pain scores. After Goldthwait defined the facet joint concept in 1911, Ghormley defined facet joint syndrome in 1933. The source of pain in 40-50% of patients is the lumbar facet joints. Innervation of the lumbar facet joints is provided by the medial branches of the dorsal roots of the spinal nerves. In 1975, Shealy described the coagulation of the articular nerve support of the spinal facet joints with the radiofrequency method. These methods have been further developed over time. The results of facet joint injections are satisfactory in well-selected patient groups. It has been shown that intra-articular steroid injection to the facet joint is superior to systemic steroid use in patients with low back pain. In this study, it was aimed to methodically compare the facet joint injections applied to patients diagnosed with facet syndrome in the outpatient clinic of the Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Hospital in terms of patient pain scores, application time, effort spent and patient anxiety. Intra-articular injections will be performed under by fluoroscopy or ultrasound guidance or anatomic location.

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