title: 5. Cervical facet pain.
abstract: More than 50% of patients presenting to a pain clinic with neck pain may suffer from facet-related pain. The most common symptom is unilateral pain without radiation to the arm. Rotation and retroflexion are frequently painful or limited. The history should exclude risk factors for serious underlying pathology (red flags). Radiculopathy may be excluded with neurologic testing. Direct correlation between degenerative changes observed with plain radiography, computerized tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging and pain has not been proven. Conservative treatment options for cervical facet pain such as physiotherapy, manipulation, and mobilization, although supported by little evidence, are frequently applied before considering interventional treatments. Interventional pain management techniques, including intra-articular steroid injections, medial branch blocks, and radiofrequency treatment, may be considered (0). At present, there is no evidence to support cervical intra-articular corticosteroid injection. When applied, this should be done in the context of a study. Therapeutic repetitive medial branch blocks, with or without corticosteroid added to the local anesthetic, result in a comparable short-term pain relief (2 B+). Radiofrequency treatment of the ramus medialis of the cervical ramus dorsalis (facet) may be considered. The evidence to support its use in the management of degenerative cervical facet joint pain is derived from observational studies (2 C+).
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Management, University Medical Centre Maastricht, 6202 AZ Maastricht, The Netherlands. m.eerd@wxs.nl
authors.forename: Maarten
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: van Eerd
authors.forename: Jacob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Patijn
authors.forename: Arno
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lataster
authors.forename: Richard W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Rosenquist
authors.forename: Maarten
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: van Kleef
authors.forename: Nagy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mekhail
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Van Zundert
mesh_terms: D004185:Disability Evaluation; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006801:Humans; D019547:Neck Pain / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D010147:Pain Measurement; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D021801:Zygapophyseal Joint / Q000503:physiopathology*