Comparison of the effectiveness of ultrasound-guided versus fluoroscopy-guided medial lumbar bundle branch block on pain related to lumbar facet joints: a multicenter randomized controlled non-inferiority study

Abstract

Lumbar facet joints (LFJ) syndrome is a common source of spinal suffering affecting up to 45% of patients with a chronic low back pain (LBP) because of inflammation, degenerative or arthritic changes, overload of the posterior LFJ or muscle imbalance [1,2,3,4,5,6]. It can be defined as a lumbosacral pain sometimes associated with sciatic pain that spread from any structure of facet/zygapophyseal joints [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Despite the high prevalence and the annual cost that it can generates, this syndrome is always difficult for pain doctors to take care of [5].