ArticleThe Korean journal of pain2018
Therapeutic lumbar facet joint nerve blocks in the treatment of chronic low back pain: cost utility analysis based on a randomized controlled trial.
Article in The Korean journal of pain, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06989632 (Total Lumbar Disc Prosthesis and Subsequent Work Activity 5 Years After Total Lumbar Disc Replacement), which is not on this map. Cited by 19 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.
Total Lumbar Disc Prosthesis and Subsequent Work Activity 5 Years After Total Lumbar Disc Replacement
Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 48 citations in OpenAlex.
- A Systematic Review of Regenerative Medicine Therapies for Axial Spine Pain of Facet Joint Origin.Current pain and headache reports · 2025Pooled it
- Is Percutaneous Adhesiolysis Effective in Managing Chronic Low Back and Lower Extremity Pain in Post-surgery Syndrome: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Current pain and headache reports · 2020Pooled it
- Does Epidural Bupivacaine with or Without Steroids Provide Long-Term Relief? A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Current pain and headache reports · 2020Pooled it
- Psoas Compartment Block Versus Medial Branch Block for Low Back Pain: A Narrative Review of Anatomical Targets, Clinical Evidence, and Patient Selection.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Utilization Patterns of Facet Joint Interventions in Managing Spinal Pain in a Medicare Population.Pain and therapy · 2023Article
- Lessons for Better Pain Management in the Future: Learning from the Past.Pain and therapy · 2020Review
- A Comprehensive Review of the Treatment and Management of Myofascial Pain Syndrome.Current pain and headache reports · 2020Review
- A Comprehensive Review of the Celiac Plexus Block for the Management of Chronic Abdominal Pain.Current pain and headache reports · 2020Review
- The Role of the Cannabinoid System in Pain Control: Basic and Clinical Implications.Current pain and headache reports · 2020Review
- A Comprehensive Update on the Treatment and Management of Postdural Puncture Headache.Current pain and headache reports · 2020Review
- Utilization of Vertebral Augmentation Procedures in the USA: a Comparative Analysis in Medicare Fee-for-Service Population Pre- and Post-2009 Trials.Current pain and headache reports · 2020Review
- Evaluation of Cost-Utility of Thoracic Interlaminar Epidural Injections.Current pain and headache reports · 2020Article
- Usefulness of the Inferior Articular Process's Cross-Sectional Area as a Morphological Parameter for Predicting Central Lumbar Spinal Stenosis.Journal of clinical medicine · 2020Article
- Treatment of Discogenic Low Back Pain: Current Treatment Strategies and Future Options-a Literature Review.Current pain and headache reports · 2019Review
- Utilization Patterns of Facet Joint Interventions in Managing Spinal Pain: a Retrospective Cohort Study in the US Fee-for-Service Medicare Population.Current pain and headache reports · 2019Review
- Comparison of effectiveness for fluoroscopic cervical interlaminar epidural injections with or without steroid in cervical post-surgery syndrome.The Korean journal of pain · 2018Article
- Chronic low back pain: a mini-review on pharmacological management and pathophysiological insights from clinical and pre-clinical data.Inflammopharmacology · 2018Review
- Superior articular process cross-sectional area is a new sensitive parameter for the diagnosis of lumbar central canal spinal stenosis.Clinical interventions in aging · 2018Article
- Optimal cut-off points of lumbar pedicle thickness as a morphological parameter to predict lumbar spinal stenosis syndrome: a retrospective study.Journal of pain research · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundRelated to escalating health care costs and the questionable effectiveness of multiple interventions including lumbar facet joint interventions, cost effectiveness or cost utility analysis has become the cornerstone of evidence-based medicine influencing coverage decisions.
methodsCost utility of therapeutic lumbar facet joint nerve blocks in managing chronic low back pain was performed utilizing data from a randomized, double-blind, controlled trial with a 2-year follow-up, with direct payment data from 2016. Based on the data from surgical interventions, utilizing the lowest proportion of direct procedural costs of 60%, total cost utility per quality adjusted life year (QALY) was determined by multiplying the derived direct cost at 1.67.
resultsPatients in this trial on average received 5.6 ± 2.6 procedures over a period of 2 years, with average relief over a period of 2 years of 82.8 ± 29.6 weeks with 19 ± 18.77 weeks of improvement per procedure. Procedural cost for one-year improvement in quality of life showed USD $2,654.08. Estimated total costs, including indirect costs and drugs with multiplication of direct costs at 1.67, showed a cost of USD $4,432 per QALY.
conclusionsThe analysis of therapeutic lumbar facet joint nerve blocks in the treatment of chronic low back pain shows clinical effectiveness and cost utility at USD $2,654.08 for the direct costs of the procedures, and USD $4,432 for the estimated overall cost per one year of QALY, in chronic persistent low back pain non-responsive to conservative management.
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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.