Management of cervical facet arthropathy
Keywords:
cervical facet joint, ultrasound guidance, medial branch block, medial branch neurotomyAbstract
Chronic neck pain is a common chief complaint
in a pain clinic. This condition affects the patients’ work,
activities of daily living and also their quality of life.
A pain physician plays a major role in making a
diagnosis and providing care as a part of the
interdisciplinary pain management with an orthopedist
and a physiatrist. Chronic neck pain results from
various conditions such as cervical facet arthropathy,
degenerative disc disease, cervical nerve root
impingement and myofascial pain syndrome. Cervical
medial branch block is a pain intervention yielding
the diagnosis of cervical facet syndrome and pain relief. The pain physicians should have expertise in
chronic neck pain regarding the clinical diagnosis,
physical examination and imaging interpretation.
This review article aims to summarize and update
the technique of cervical medial branch block and
neurotomy in term of indication, contraindication,
patient selection and the latest evidence-based
support.
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