Introduction
pain, disability, lumbar facet joint pain, FJI
LUMBAR FACET JOINT PAIN, CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN
Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is a common condition that contributes to substantial disability and healthcare cost in the United States.In addition to LRFA, lumbar facet joint injection of corticosteroid (FJI) has historically been used as a treatment strategy for lumbar facet joint pain. Previous clinical outcome studies of FJI have shown variable results ranging from lack of superiority relative to intramuscular steroid injection to a 61% responder rate at 3-month follow-up.Numerous studiesWhile the conventional radiofrequency ablation (RFA) modality has been studied extensively for LRFA, outcome literature on the effectiveness of cooled-tip (C-LRFA) technology is less developed. Outcomes studies addressing C-LRFA have been published, but no study has utilized the reference standard MBB paradigm described above or reported outcomes beyond 6 months.As such, the goal of the proposed study was to determine if individuals diagnosed with lumbar facet joint pain using dual-concordant MBBs with an ≥80% relief threshold demonstrate greater improvements in pain and function when treated with C-LRFA compared to FJI at both short and long-term follow-up. We hypothesized that treatment with C-LRFA would result in a greater likelihood of clinically meaningful improvements in pain and function compared to FJI.