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Ultrasound versus fluoroscopy-guided cervical medial branch block for the treatment of chronic cervical facet joint pain: a retrospective comparative study

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Abstract

Objective

To compare the mid-term effects and advantages of the ultrasound (US)-guided with fluoroscopy(FL)-guided cervical medial branch blocks (CMBBs) for chronic cervical facet joint pain through assessment of pain relief, functional improvement, and injection efficiency.

Methods

Patients with chronic cervical facet joint pain who received US- (n = 68) or FL-guided CMBBs (n = 58) were included in this retrospective study. All procedures were performed using a FL or US. The complication frequencies, treatment effects, functional improvement, and injection efficiency of CMBBs were compared at 1, 3, and 6 months after the last injection.

Results

Both the NDI and VNS scores showed improvements at 1, 3, and 6 months after the last injection in both groups, with no significant differences between groups (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the treatment success rate at all time points was not significantly different between groups. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the injection method (US- or FL-guided), the number of injections, sex, analgesic use, and age were not independent predictors of treatment success. Compared with FL-guided CMBB, US-guided CMBB was associated with a shorter administration duration and fewer needle passes.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that, compared with FL-guided CMBBs, US-guided CMBBs require a shorter administration duration and fewer needle passes, while providing similar pain relief and functional improvements. Therefore, US-guided CMBBs can be considered as an effective alternative for the conservative management of chronic cervical facet joint pain.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Gachon University, Gil Medical Center, Incheon, South Korea

    Ki Deok Park

  2. Seoul Spine Institute, Sanggye Paik Hospital, Inje University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea

    Dong-Ju Lim

  3. Department of Anesthesiology, Sanggye Paik Hospital, Inje University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea

    Woo Yong Lee

  4. Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Sanggye Paik Hospital, Inje University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea

    JaeKi Ahn & Yongbum Park

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  1. Ki Deok Park
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  2. Dong-Ju Lim
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yongbum Park.

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Ethics approval and consent to participate

The institutional review board of the corresponding author’s affiliated university approved the study. The approval included a waiver of informed consent, because the study did not include direct contact with the study population, and all patient identifiers were removed from the dataset on initial collection.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Ki Deok Park and Dong-Ju Lim contributed equally to this work as first authors.

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Park, K.D., Lim, DJ., Lee, W.Y. et al. Ultrasound versus fluoroscopy-guided cervical medial branch block for the treatment of chronic cervical facet joint pain: a retrospective comparative study. Skeletal Radiol 46, 81–91 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-016-2516-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-016-2516-2

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