Abstract

Lumbar facet joint syndrome (LFJS) is a potential cause of chronic lower back pain that can occur by osteoarthritis, spondyloarthritis or trauma. Pain arises with spinal rotation and extension in the lower back, and outer thighs, sometimes pain spreads below the knee joint and increases with sitting-standing activities. Facet joint injections are gaining importance day by day and imaging technique guidance is thought to be safer during joint injection, yet the superiority of fluoroscopy, ultrasound (US) or landmark injections has not been demonstrated for intra-articular injection. Sixty patients from outpatient clinics diagnosed as LFJS were participated in the study. They were randomized into three different groups with equal participants based on intervention; anatomical, US-guided, and fluoroscopy-guided. Pain, functionality and range of lumbar motion were recorded pre-treatment and at first month follow-ups with Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and revised Oswestry Disability Index (rODI), respectively. All groups showed improvement in terms of pain and functionality compared to the baseline. However, VAS and rODI scores of US-guided and fluoroscopy guided groups were significantly lower than anatomical injection group (p

Key words: Pain, facet joint, intra-articular injection, low back pain, injection, ultrasound