Researchers sought to determine how accurate ultrasound-guided cervical facet joint injections employing a lateral approach were for research. The technique was described as a secondary goal. A cohort study of ultrasound-guided cervical facet joint injections performed by an experienced spine and ultrasound interventionist at a community interventional spine practice, as measured by contrast dye arthrography. Furthermore, 60 joints were researched in 36 patients with facet discomfort. The percent of fluoroscopic contrast dye patterns judged as intra-articular by the operator and an independent imaging specialist determined the accuracy of ultrasound-guided injections. Binomial “exact” and normal approximation to binomial computations were used to calculate CI. Ultrasound-guided a needle into a facet joint utilizing a long-axis or in-plane technique, followed by contrast dye injection and a lateral fluoroscopic picture. The operator interpreted the dye pattern. Local anesthetic and corticosteroid were given depending on the pattern. The patient was asked if the discomfort in his neck had gone away. If the problem was not fixed, a new joint was chosen, and the process was repeated. The imaging specialist independently interpreted all of the contrast patterns at the end of the trial. The money came from a 501(c)(3) foundation with no commercial or sponsorship ties. The accuracy of ultrasound-guided cervical facet joint injections using the lateral technique ranged from 92% to 98%, depending on the criteria used to confirm an intra-articular contrast pattern (95% CI: 0.82–0.97 to 0.91–1.0, and 0.85–0.99 to 0.95–1.00, respectively). The injections were distributed as follows: C2–3 (22%), C3–4 (40%), C4–5 (33%), and C5–6 (5% ). A lateral ultrasound-guided approach could have been used to administer cervical facet joint injections with a high degree of precision. However, the procedure, like fluoroscopy-guided cervical facet joint injections, necessitated a cautious approach and a high level of competence.
Source – www.thespinejournalonline.com/article/S1529-9430(22)00022-5/fulltext
