Effects of Facet Joint Injection Reducing the Need for Percutaneous Vertebroplasty in Vertebral Compression Fractures

Objective: To evaluate the effects of facet joint injection (FJI) reducing the need for percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) in cases of vertebral compression fracture (VCF). Materials and Methods: A total of 169 patients who were referred to the radiology department of our institution for PVP between January 2011 and December 2014 were retrospectively evaluated. The effectiveness of FJI was evaluated by the proportion of patients who cancelled PVP and who experienced reduced pain. In addition, by means of medical chart and MRI review, those clinical factors (age, sex, history of trauma, amount of injected steroids and interval days elapsed between VCF and FJI) and MR image factors (kyphosis angle, height loss, single or multiple level of VCF, burst fracture, central canal compromise, posterior element injury) that were believed to be significant for the effectiveness of FJI were statistically analysed. Results: In the 26 patients with FJI prior to PVP, six (23 %) patients cancelled PVP with considerable improvement in reported pain. In the 20 patients with PVP after FJI, improvement in pain after FJI was reported by six patients, resulting in a total of 12 patients (46 %) who experienced reduced pain after FJI. Clinical factors and MR image factors did not show any statistically significant difference between those groups, divided by PVP cancellation and by improvement of pain. Conclusion: After FJI prior to PVP, about one quarter of patients cancelled PVP due to reduced pain and overall about half of the patients experienced reduced pain.