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Chronic Facet Pain

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Musculoskeletal Sports and Spine Disorders

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Abstract

Chronic lumbar facet pain originates from pathologic changes in the facet joints, located in the posterolateral aspect of the spine. It is classically described as a deep ache, made worse with twisting, lateral bending, and hyperextension. Some common causes of chronic lumbar facet pain include aging, repetitive strain, and trauma. As radiologic examination does not have significant utility in diagnosis, the diagnosis is made clinically. A Kemp’s test may aid in diagnosis. Conservative management includes short courses of non-opioid medication and an individualized physical therapy program. When conservative measures fail, medial branch blocks, followed by radiofrequency ablation, may provide prolonged symptomatic relief. If progressive neurologic symptoms are present, urgent surgical referral is indicated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, Department of Pain Medicine, New York, NY, 10029, USA

    Akshay S. Garg MD

  2. University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Ravi S. Vaswani MD

  3. Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Department of Anesthesiology, New York, NY, USA

    Yury Khelemsky MD

Authors
  1. Akshay S. Garg MD
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  2. Ravi S. Vaswani MD
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  3. Yury Khelemsky MD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Akshay S. Garg MD .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopedics, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA

    Stuart B. Kahn

  2. Interventional Pain Management, San Antonio, Texas, USA

    Rachel Yinfei Xu

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Garg, A.S., Vaswani, R.S., Khelemsky, Y. (2017). Chronic Facet Pain. In: Kahn, S., Xu, R. (eds) Musculoskeletal Sports and Spine Disorders. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50512-1_94

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50512-1_94

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-50510-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-50512-1

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