ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Nowadays, ultrasound is increasingly used with a great accuracy in performing nerve blocks for facet joint disease. OBJECTIVES: To measure sonoanatomic characteristics for the facet joints of lumbar vertebras in patients with facetogenic pain and healthy volunteers. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional, observational study. SETTING: University-affiliated Specialty Clinic for Pain Management. PATIENTS: Twenty patients with facet joint disease (FJD) and 40 healthy volunteers (HVGs) were matched for age and sex, height, and weight. Patients with FJD were referred with complaints of pain in the left lumbar facet joints that twice responded favorably to ultrasound guided medial branch blocks. INTERVENTION: Medial branch blocks. MEASUREMENT: The interfacet joint distance (IFJD) between the third, the fourth, and the fifth lumbar vertebras and their depth from the level of skin (DFS) were measured bilaterally, using a high-resolution ultrasound in both groups. RESULTS: Thirty-one men and 29 women with average age of 41.5±9.5 years were enrolled. The IFJD for L3-L4 was 31.5±4.0 mm on the left side and 31.8±4.0 mm on the right side. The IFJD for L4-L5 was 31.3±4.4 mm on the left side and 31.5±4.0 mm on the right side. The IFJD was uniformly 2.2 mm shorter in the FJD group than those in the HVG group (P=.021). The measurements of DFS increased in lower vertebras (L3Subject(s)
Low Back Pain/pathology
, Lumbar Vertebrae/pathology
, Spinal Diseases/pathology
, Zygapophyseal Joint/pathology
, Adult
, Case-Control Studies
, Cross-Sectional Studies
, Female
, Humans
, Low Back Pain/diagnostic imaging
, Low Back Pain/therapy
, Lumbar Vertebrae/diagnostic imaging
, Male
, Middle Aged
, Nerve Block
, Sex Factors
, Spinal Diseases/diagnostic imaging
, Spinal Diseases/therapy
, Ultrasonography/methods
, Zygapophyseal Joint/diagnostic imaging