Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31616521›Full record

ArticleExperimental and therapeutic medicine2019

Outcome of intra-articular lumbar facet joint corticosteroid injection according to the severity of facet joint arthritis.

Dong Gyu Kwak, Sang Gyu Kwak, Ah Young Lee, Min Cheol Chang

Registry-linked trialOpen access · diamondAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Experimental and therapeutic medicine, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07309731 (Impact OF Cooled Versus Thermal Radiofrequency Denervation In Management Of Chronic Lumber Facet Joint Pain.Prospective Study.), which is not on this map. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
15citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
2.1field-weighted citation impact, top 14% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

NCT07309731 narecruitingnot on this mapstarted 2026, after this paper: background citation

Impact OF Cooled Versus Thermal Radiofrequency Denervation In Management Of Chronic Lumber Facet Joint Pain.Prospective Study.

TypeinterventionalSponsorZagazig UniversityRan2026 to 2026Enrolled100ConditionsLumber Facet Joint Pain(Lower Back Pain ) Relief by Cooled Radiofrequency or Thermal Radiofrequency DenervationArmsthermal radio frequency denervation, Cooled Radiofrequency denervation
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 21 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Overview of Available Treatments and Their Limitations for Hypertrophic Facet Joints-A Systematic Review of the Literature.Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Global research & reviews · 2025
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  2. Efficacy and safety of [European journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Dong Gyu KwakDepartment of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, College of Medicine, Yeungnam University, Daegu 42415, Republic of Korea.
Sang Gyu KwakDepartment of Medical Statistics, College of Medicine, Catholic University of Daegu, Daegu 42472, Republic of Korea.
Ah Young LeeDepartment of Physical Therapy, College of Rehabilitation Sciences, Daegu University, Daegu 38453, Republic of Korea.
Min Cheol ChangDepartment of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, College of Medicine, Yeungnam University, Daegu 42415, Republic of Korea.
Yeungnam University · KRCatholic University of Daegu · KRDaegu University · KR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Lumbar facet joint osteoarthritis (FJOA) caused by degenerative change(s) is considered to be the main cause of facet joint-origin low back pain (LBP). Intra-articular lumbar facet joint (IA LFJ) corticosteroid injection is widely used for controlling pain induced by FJOA. In the current study, the outcomes of IA LFJ corticosteroid injection were evaluated according to the severity of FJOA. A total of 50 patients who received IA LFJ corticosteroid injections for the treatment of LFJ pain were recruited. Patients were classified into three groups according to the severity of FJOA, which was indicated during a lumbar axial MRI. A total of 10 patients were assigned to group A (patients with mild FJOA), 27 to group B (patients with moderate FJOA) and 13 to group C (patients with severe FJOA). Pain intensity was evaluated using a numerical rating scale (NRS) prior to treatment and at 1, 2 and 3 months after treatment. A total of 26 (52%) patients experienced successful treatment outcomes (defined as >50% reduction in NRS score at 3 months). Patients in all groups demonstrated a significant decrease in NRS scores at 1, 2 and 3 months after IA LFJ corticosteroid injection compared with the pre-treatment score (P<0.001). However, the effect of IA LFJ corticosteroid injection was not significantly different among the three groups (P=0.889). The results demonstrated that facet joint-origin LBP was significantly reduced after IA LFJ corticosteroid injection, regardless of the severity of FJOA. The results of the current study indicated that IA LFJ corticosteroid injection is a beneficial clinical option for managing LBP caused by FJOA.

Indexed as

corticosteroid injectionlower back painlumbar facet jointosteoarthritisseverity

Identifiers

PMID31616521
PMCPMC6781832
OpenAlexW2973701478

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

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.