Abstract
Backpain is a common cause of patient referral to pain clinics. Around 120 000 patients with back pain are seen in UK Pain Clinics every year. Facet joint injections are a commonly used treatment modality. However there is considerable controversy regarding their efficacy. Most of the evidence supporting the use of injections is anecdotal, rather than being based on randomised studies.
We carried out a prospective study to assess the efficacy of facet joint injections in relieving chronic low back pain. Our study group comprised 41 patients (57% females, 43% males). Patients completed the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and marked their pain levels on a Visual Analogue Scale (1 to 10).
We found that though the pain score improved from 6.9 to 4.3, there was only a marginal improvement in the ODI from 52.5 to 50.8. Overall 85 % of patients experienced some improvement, while 15% felt their symptoms had worsened after the injections. One of the most significant findings of this study was the fact that the improvement in most patients lasted only for an average of three weeks. This is significantly less than most previous studies indicate. Interestingly, inspite of this limited improvement, almost all patients expressed the desire to be placed back on the list for repeat injections.
Our study demonstrated a beneficial short term effect of facet joint injections. In our opinion, they are a reasonable adjunct to non operative treatment of chronic backpain.
Correspondence should be addressed to Editorial Secretary Mr ML Costa or Assistant Editorial Secretary Mr B.J. Ollivere at BOA, 35–43 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London WC2A 3PE, England; Email: mattcosta@hotmail.com or ben@ollivere.co.uk
