Does the severity of facet joint osteoarthritis affect facet medial branch radiofrequency thermocoagulation results?

Kaya S. Sancar; Çelik Şeref; Göksu Hamit; Akçaboy E. Yavuz; Şahin Şaziye

doi:10.17712/nsj.2025.30.4.20240037

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Figure 1
- The “Scotty dog” sign and cannula placement during facet medial branch radiofrequency thermocoagulation.
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Figure 2
- Consort flowchart of the studied patients. FJO: facet joint osteoarthritis
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Figure 3
- Significant pain relief rates of the patients regarding the grade of FJO at the 1st, 6th, and 12th months. There was no significant difference between the groups at each time point (p>0.05). FJO: facet joint osteoarthritis

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Table 1

- Demographic and pain characteristics of the patients.

Characteristics	Median (IQR)
Age, mean±SD	63.97±10.46
Gender, n (%)
Female	70 (76.9)
Male	21 (23.1)
BMI (kg/m²)	28.91 (27.76-31.11)
Grade of FJO, n (%)
1	38 (41.8)
2	28 (30.8)
3	25 (27.5)
Duration of pain (weeks)	36.0 (18.0-36.0)
VAS baseline	7.0 (7.0-8.0)
VAS-1^st month	1.0 (1.0-3.0)
VAS-6^th month	2.0 (1.0-5.0)
VAS-12^th month	3.0 (1.0-7.0)

Values are presented as numbers and percentages (%) or median and interquartile range ([IQR]: 25th-75th) or mean±standard deviation (SD). BMI - body mass index, FJO - facet joint osteoarthritis, VAS - visual analog scale

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Table 2

- Demographic features of the patients regarding the stage of facet joint osteoarthritis.

Variables	Grade of FJO			P-values
Variables	1 (n=38)	2 (n=28)	3 (n=25)	P-values
Age, mean±SD	59.05±11.60	66.71±7.29	68.36±8.82	0.006*
				0.001†
				0.811‡
Gender, n(%)
Female	27 (71.1)	21 (75.0)	22 (88.0)	0.283
Male	11 (28.9)	7 (25.0)	3 (12.0)	0.283
BMI	28.55 (26.22-29.38)	29.10 (27.53-32.02)	30.44 (28.57-	0.032
Duration of pain (weeks)	36 (18-36)	36.0 (15.0-36.0)	36.0 (18.0-50.0)	0.711
VAS-baseline	7.0 (7.0-8.0)	8.0 (7.0-8.0)	8.0 (7.0-8.0)	0.055
VAS-1^st month	1.0 (0.75-3.0)	1.5 (1.0-3.0)	3.0 (1.0-4.5)	0.129
VAS-6^th month	2.0 (1.0-4.3)	2.5 (1.0-5.0)	3.0 (1.0-6.0)	0.481
VAS-12^th month	3.0 (1.0-6.3)	3 (1.3-7.0)	6.0 (2.0-7.0)	0.138

Values are presented as numbers and percentages (%) or median and interquartile range ([IQR]: 25th-75th) or mean ± standard deviation (SD).

BMI - body mass index, VAS - visual analog scale, FJO - facet joint osteoarthritis

↵* For groups 1 and 2,
↵† for groups 1 and 3, and
↵‡ for groups 2 and 3.

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Table 3

- Correlation analysis of the possible factors related to significant pain relief.

Variables	Spearman’s rho	Age	Gender	BMI	Duration pain	Grade of FJO	Significant pain relief at the 1^st month	Significant pain relief at the 6^th month	Significant pain relief at the 12^th month
Age	Rho	1.000	0.125	0.200	0.056	0.353	0.208	0.053	-0.112
Age	P-value	0.00	0.239	0.058	0.600	0.001	0.058	0.620	0.291
Gender	Rho	0.125	1.000	-0.232	0.054	-0.156	0.141	0.076	0.004
Gender	P-value	0.239	0.00	0.027	0.612	0.140	0.182	0.476	0.970
BMI	Rho	0.200	-0.232*	1.000	-0.130	0.277	-0.163	-0.058	0.132
BMI	P-value	0.058	0.027	0.00	0.218	0.008	0.123	0.586	0.212
Duration of pain	Rho	0.056	0.054	-0.130	1.000	0.085	0.022	-0.025	0.001
	P-value	0.600	0.612	0.218	0.00	0.421	0.838	0.815	0.994
	P-value	0.612	0.209	0.006	0.556	0.208	0.954	0.537	0.876
Grade of FJO	Rho	0.353	-0.156	0.277	0.085	1.000	-0.080	-0.103	0.187
Grade of FJO	P-value	0.001	0.140	0.008	0.421	0.00	0.450	0.332	0.077