Ultrasound-guided cervical facet joint IMS

Ahn, Kang; Moon, Jisuk; Lee, Sang Chul

Abstract

BACKGROUND:Cervical facet joint stimulation is a good therapeutic option for treating chronic neck pain.Fluoroscopy is the gold standard, as an imaging tool, for performing cervical facet joint stimulation.Ultrasound guided stimulation is safe and accurate, but there have been no reports on using ultrasound guided cervical facet joint stimulation to treat chronic neck pain.We wanted to describe successful ultrasound guided cervical facet joint IMS for treating patients with chronic neck pain.
METHODS
Twenty six adult patients were treated with IMS on a cervical facet joint.A low frequency ultrasound system was used (Qsonix by Ultrasonix, Canada with a 6?12 Hz linear probe).The patients were positioned in the prone position with a slight extended neck.A parasagittal posterior view of the cervical spine was obtained with using a sterile technique.This allowed visualization, in a single view, of all the cervical facet joints on the one side.We performed this procedure with a transverse approach after manually palpating the facet joint.This allowed real-time monitoring of the needle along its entire length.
RESULTS
The posterior neck pain and the dorsal back pain were both decreased after needle stimulation.Ultrasound guided dry needling could be performed accurately for all the patients.
CONCLUSIONS
This is the first description of cervical facet dry needle stimulation under ultrasound guidance for treating chronic neck pain.The advantages of ultrasound guidance include accurate targeting, reducing the unwanted injury and improved patient discomfort.