ArticlePain medicine (Malden, Mass.)2024
Osteoarthritis of zygapophysial joints as a cause of back pain and neck pain: a scoping review.
Article in Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.), 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- Deep or Superficial? Autologous Conditioned Serum for Cervical Pain with Degenerative Disc Disease - a Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of pain research · 2026Trial
- Characteristics of patients with cervical pain originating from the lateral atlanto-axial joint (C1-C2).Interventional pain medicine · 2026Article
- Interventional pain management focused on zygapophysial joint pain: current landscape and future perspectives.Pain management · 2025Review
- Impact of asymmetric L4-L5 facet joint degeneration on lumbar spine biomechanics using a finite element approach.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Current and future advances in practice: cervical spondylosis and mechanical neck pain.Rheumatology advances in practice · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundZygapophysial joints (Z joints) can be a source of back pain and of neck pain, but the cause of pain is not known. Some authors attribute the pain to osteoarthritis but without citing evidence.
objectivesThe present review was undertaken to determine if there was sufficient evidence of association between spinal pain and osteoarthritis of Z joints to justify osteoarthritis being held to be the cause of pain. The null hypothesis was that osteoarthritis of Z joints does not cause back pain or neck pain. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: Relevant studies were ones that provided primary data on the association between pain and osteoarthritis of Z joints. These could be population studies, diagnostic studies, or case-control studies. SOURCES OF EVIDENCE: The database of PubMed was searched using the terms: Lumbar or cervical, zygapophysial or facet, pain, and osteoarthritis or degeneration or degenerative. CHARTING
methodsData pertinent to the research question were extracted from original articles and tabulated for reporting. Odds ratios for associations were calculated, as were the prevalence rates of osteoarthritis in subjects with pain, and conversely the prevalence rates of pain in subjects with osteoarthritis.
resultsThe searches retrieved 11 population studies, 4 diagnostic studies, and 3 cases control studies. No study showed any positive association between osteoarthritis of Z joints and pain. All studies found pain to be independent of the presence or severity of osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis was as common in subjects with no pain as in subjects with pain. The null hypothesis was not refuted.
conclusionThe published evidence does not support the belief that osteoarthritis causes Z joint pain. All the evidence contradicts this belief.
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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.