Where is the pain in back pain: facet joint injections

One of the significant difficulties in medicine is to determine the cause of pain in individuals with low back pain. The site or nature of pain cannot be determined by looking at Xrays or MRI scans

In a recent study individuals with persistent low back pain were examined using anaesthetic injections to the facet joints in the lumbar spine.

Facet joints have been shown to be the cause of chronic low back pain in 15% to 45% of the patients in previous studies. This study looked at the effect of age on the prevalence of low back pain.

The study population consisted of 100 patients. Group I consisted of 50 patients that were 64 years of age or younger. Group II consisted of 50 patients 65 years of age or older.

Facet joints were investigated with diagnostic blocks initially using lidocaine 1% followed by bupivacaine 0.25%, usually 2 weeks apart.

The prevalence of facet joint mediated pain was determined to be 30% in the adults and 52% in the elderly.

This study takes another small step towards the understanding of back pain.