ReviewNature reviews. Rheumatology2013
Facet joint pain--advances in patient selection and treatment.
Review in Nature reviews. Rheumatology, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT02002429 (Medial Branch Blocks vs. Intra-articular Injections), which is not on this map. Cited by 54 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Medial Branch Blocks vs. Intra-articular Injections: Randomized, Controlled Study Comparing Lumbar Facet Radiofrequency Denervation Using Diagnostic Injections.
Who cites it
54 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 228 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficacy of Steroid Facet Joint Injections for Axial Spinal Pain and Post Radiofrequency Ablation Neuritis: A Systematic Review.Current pain and headache reports · 2025Pooled it
- Focused extracorporeal shockwave therapy for the treatment of low back pain: a systematic review.Frontiers in medicine · 2024Pooled it
- Radiofrequency denervation for chronic back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ open · 2020Pooled it
- Endoscopic rhizotomy for chronic lumbar zygapophysial joint pain.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2020Trial
- Effectiveness of Lumbar Facet Joint Blocks and Predictive Value before Radiofrequency Denervation: The Facet Treatment Study (FACTS), a Randomized, Controlled Clinical Trial.Anesthesiology · 2018Trial
- Trial
- Controlled medial branch anesthetic block in the diagnosis of chronic lumbar facet joint pain: the value of a three-month follow-up.Clinics (Sao Paulo, Brazil) · 2014Trial
- Microfragmented Adipose Tissue in Pain Management: Bridging Regenerative Biology and Clinical Therapeutics.Pain and therapy · 2026Review
- Expert Consensus-Based Criteria for Identifying Lumbar Facet Joint Pain in Primary Care: Development Using Factor Analysis and a Modified Delphi Method.Pain and therapy · 2026Article
- Comprehensive Evaluation of Facet Joints Osteoarthritis Radiological Features on Lumbar CT: A Multitask Deep Learning Approach.JOR spine · 2025Article
- Lumbar Radiofrequency Ablation (LRFA)- Myths and Facts: A Narrative Review of the Literature.Current pain and headache reports · 2025Review
- Effectiveness of a Facet Joint Block Versus a Medial Branch Block in Spinal Pain Management: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Neurospine · 2025Article
- Spinal Cord Stimulation for Intractable Chronic Limb Ischemia: A Narrative Review.Journal of cardiovascular development and disease · 2024Review
- Endoscopic Joint Capsule and Articular Process Excision for the Treatment of Lumbar Facet Joint Syndrome: A Retrospective Study.Journal of pain research · 2024Article
- Article
- Article
- Hypoxia-treated adipose mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes attenuate lumbar facet joint osteoarthritis.Molecular medicine (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2023Article
- Cervical Steroid Injections Are Not Effective for Prevention of Surgical Treatment of Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy.Global spine journal · 2023Article
- Delphi-Based Expert Consensus Statements for the Management of Percutaneous Radiofrequency Neurotomy in the Treatment of Lumbar Facet Joint Syndrome.Pain and therapy · 2023Article
- Radiofrequency Ablation for Chronic Lumbar Zygapophyseal Joint Pain Using a V-Shaped Active Tip Needle: An Observational Retrospective Study.Journal of pain research · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Facetogenic pain, also known as zygapophysial joint pain, is a frequent cause of mechanical spine pain. Diagnostic blocks (for example, medial branch blocks [MBBs]) are the only reliable approach to identify facet joints as the source of neck or back pain. In the absence of a reference standard, MBBs actually serve more of a prognostic than diagnostic role, enabling the selection of patients who might respond to radiofrequency denervation treatment--the standard treatment for facet joint pain. Using double blocks reduces the false-positive rate of MBBs, but will invariably reduce the overall treatment success rate. No studies have evaluated non-interventional treatments for confirmed facetogenic pain, but data from studies in non-specific back pain suggest a modest, short-term beneficial effect for pharmacotherapy and some non-traditional treatments. Trials of intra-articular steroid injections for lumbar and cervical facet joint pain have yielded disappointing results, but evidence suggests that a subpopulation of patients with acute inflammation derive intermediate-term benefit from this therapy. Radiofrequency denervation provides some benefit for up to a year in approximately 60% of individuals. Increasing this success rate might involve enhancing diagnostic specificity and phenotyping, as well as techniques that increase the likelihood of successful nerve ablation, such as maximizing lesion size.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.