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Lumbar Facet and Medial Branch Block

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Abstract

Chronic low back pain (LBP) is among the most prevalent causes of medical disability in the world. About two-thirds of the population suffers from LBP at some point in their life. The zygapophysial (facet) joint is a common source of LBP. First described in 1963, facet joint injections are the second most commonly performed pain interventions nationwide. Lumbar facet intra-articular injection and medial branch blocks are commonly used for diagnosis and treatment of facetogenic pain. This chapter will describe the common uses and indications, procedural techniques, evidence for efficacy, and some pearls and pitfalls for safely and effectively performing these procedures.

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Jain, S., Hagedorn, J., Shah, J.M., Yang, A. (2019). Lumbar Facet and Medial Branch Block. In: Deer, T., Pope, J., Lamer, T., Provenzano, D. (eds) Deer's Treatment of Pain. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12281-2_51

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12281-2_51

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-12280-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-12281-2

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