title: Osteoarthritis of the spine: the facet joints.
abstract: Osteoarthritis (OA) of the spine involves the facet joints, which are located in the posterior aspect of the vertebral column and, in humans, are the only true synovial joints between adjacent spinal levels. Facet joint osteoarthritis (FJ OA) is widely prevalent in older adults, and is thought to be a common cause of back and neck pain. The prevalence of facet-mediated pain in clinical populations increases with increasing age, suggesting that FJ OA might have a particularly important role in older adults with spinal pain. Nevertheless, to date FJ OA has received far less study than other important OA phenotypes such as knee OA, and other features of spine pathoanatomy such as degenerative disc disease. This Review presents the current state of knowledge of FJ OA, including relevant anatomy, biomechanics, epidemiology, and clinical manifestations. We present the view that the modern concept of FJ OA is consonant with the concept of OA as a failure of the whole joint, and not simply of facet joint cartilage.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Washington Medical Center, Box 354740, 4245 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle, WA 98105, USA.
authors.forename: Alfred C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Gellhorn
authors.forename: Jeffrey N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Katz
authors.forename: Pradeep
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Suri
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001416:Back Pain / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae / Q000503:physiopathology; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019547:Neck Pain / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D010003:Osteoarthritis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D010147:Pain Measurement; D015995:Prevalence; D011379:Prognosis; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013122:Spinal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D021801:Zygapophyseal Joint / Q000473:pathology*