Background: To investigate the clinical effect of percutaneous spinal nerve posteromedial ramus destruction in treatment for chronic facet arthrogenic low back pain.
Methods: A total of 118 patients with chronic facet arthrogenic low back pain were enrolled in our hospital from October 2015 to October 2018 and randomly divided into two groups. Of these patients, 59 received conservative treatment as the control group while 59 patients were treated with percutaneous spinal nerve posteromedial ramus destruction as the observation group. Pain score (Visual Analogue Scale, VAS), functional score (Oswestry Disability Index, ODI), treatment score (Japanese Orthopaedic Association, JOA), life quality score (Short Form 36-item Health Survey, SF-36), and lumbar mobility (range of motion, ROM) were evaluated before and after treatment. The treatment effect between two groups was compared.
Results: The VAS score and ODI score at 2, 4, and 12 weeks after treatment and last follow-up in the observation group were lower than those of the control group (P<0.05). JOA score, SF-36, and ROM were higher than those of the control group (P<0.05).
Conclusions: Percutaneous spinal nerve posteromedial ramus destruction has a significant effect in treatment for chronic facet arthrogenic low back pain, which can relieve pain, improve function, and enhance quality of life.
Keywords: Percutaneous spinal nerve posteromedial ramus destruction; chronic facet arthrogenic low back pain; lumbar mobility; quality of life.