BACKGROUND Lumbar facet joint pain is diagnosed by controlled diagnostic blocks. The accuracy of controlled diagnostic blocks has been demonstrated in multiple studies and confirmed in systematic reviews. Controlled diagnostic studies have shown an overall prevalence of lumbar facet joint pain in 31% of the patients with chronic low back pain without disc displacement or radiculitis, with an ov...

STUDY DESIGN A phantom experiment, two thermocouple experiments, three in vivo pig experiments, and a simulated treatment on a healthy human volunteer were conducted to test the feasibility, safety, and efficacy of magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) for treating facet joint pain. OBJECTIVE The goal of the current study was to develop a novel method for accurate and safe non...

BACKGROUND Therapeutic lumbar facet joint interventions are implemented to provide long-term pain relief after the facet joint has been identified as the basis for low back pain. The therapeutic lumbar facet joint interventions generally used for the treatment of low back pain of facet joint origin are intraarticular facet joint injections, lumbar facet joint nerve blocks, and radiofrequency ne...

BACKGROUND Sagittal spinopelvic alignment changes associated with degenerative facet joint arthritis have been assessed in a few studies. It has been documented that patients with facet joint degeneration have higher pelvic incidence, but the relationship between facet joint degeneration and other sagittal spinopelvic alignment parameters is still disputed. Our purpose was to evaluate the corre...

This study was to evaluate the effect of stress on the intervertebral disc and facet joint after implantation of device for intervertebral assisted motion (DIAM). Nine fresh human lumbar (L1-L5) cadavers were studied. The stress on L3-4, adjacent intervertebral disc and facet joints was measured in four groups. The cadavers in Group 1 were measured without special treatment; the lumbar discecto...

STUDY DESIGN Cross-sectional study. PURPOSE To investigate the relationship between ligamentum flavum (LF) thickening and lumbar segmental instability and disc degeneration and facet joint osteoarthritis. OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE Posterior spinal structures, including LF thickness, play a major role in lumbar spinal canal stenosis pathogenesis. The cause of LF thickening is multifactorial and...

BACKGROUND Chronic, recurrent neck pain is common and is associated with high pain intensity and disability, which is seen in 14% of the adult general population. Controlled studies have supported the existence of cervical facet or zygapophysial joint pain in 36% to 67% of these patients. However, these studies also have shown false-positive results in 27% to 63% of the patients with a single d...

Clinical, epidemiological, and biomechanical studies suggest involvement of cervical facet joint injuries in neck pain. While bony motions can cause injurious tensile facet joint loading, it remains speculative whether such injuries initiate pain. There is currently a paucity of data explicitly investigating the relationship between facet mechanics and pain physiology. A rodent model of tensile...

BACKGROUND CONTEXT Lumbar facet joint synovial cysts are benign degenerative abnormalities of the lumbar spine. Previous reports have supported operative and nonoperative management. Facet joint steroid injection with cyst rupture is occasionally performed, but there has been no systematic evaluation of this treatment option. PURPOSE To profile the role of facet joint steroid injections with ...

BACKGROUND Facet joint interventions are used frequently for managing chronic spinal pain. Evidence continues to accumulate supporting the clinical effectiveness of these procedures and defining potential complications. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effectiveness of three types of facet joint interventions (facet joint injections, medial branch blocks and facet joint neurotomy) in managing spinal...