2023, Vol. 6, Issue 2, Part A

Background: The cervical facet joints, which are the fourth most frequent source of years spent disabled globally, are a major contributor to chronic neck pain. Additionally, it is the main cause of pain for 26% to 70% of those with chronic neck pain. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the efficiency of the ultrasound guidance in radiofrequency ablation of cervical medial branch in cases of chronic neck pain with facetogenic origin.

Methods: Thirty individuals with chronic neck pain from facet origin participated in this prospective, randomised trial, for three or more months in Tanta university hospital from July 2021 to July 2022. Our procedures were conducted in two steps: firstly, performing Cervical Medial Branch Block. Secondly, only patients with ≥ 80% alleviation of symptoms via dual MBBs were included for the radiofrequency neurotomy of cervical medial branch.

Results: Our results showed significant reduction of pain index, improvement in Neck Disability index score and also improvement of patients’ satisfaction in all times of measurements and follow up.

Conclusions: Chronic neck pain resulting from zygapophysial joints origin may be effectively and safely treated by ultrasound-guided cervical medial branch radiofrequency ablation.