18/01/2026
Facetogenic LBP 🕵️
In some studies, 5–15% of people with chronic LBP are believed to have disease of one or more facet joints that are contributing to their pain (van Kleef, et al., 2010).
Revel et al. in 1998 found that people with pain of facet joint origin were characterised by:
- being aged > 65 years
- pain that is well relieved by recumbency
- absence of pain exacerbation
1) by coughing
2) by forward flexion
3) when rising from flexion
4) by hyperextension
5) by extension rotation.
All predicted a benefit from injection of anaesthetic into facet joints. The presence of five of these characteristics, including pain on recumbency, correctly identified 92% of responders and 80% of non-responders (Revel et al., 1998). Others, however, were unable to replicate their findings (Laslett et al., 2004). Subsequent reviews suggest that 62% of those with these clinical features of facet joint pain obtained immediate relief from FJIs; one-third of these were false positives (Hooten et al., 2005; Sharma et al., 2012).
Laslett et al. in 2006 found that seven factors were predictive of facet joint pain:
1. age ≥ 50 years
2. pain is best when walking
3. pain is best when sitting
4. onset of pain is paraspinal
5. modified somatic perceptions questionnaire score exceeding 13 (suggesting a somatisation disorder)
6. positive extension/rotation test
7. absence of centralisation during repeated movement testing.
They found that presence of three or more factors of age ≥ 50 years, pain is best when walking, pain is best when sitting, onset of pain is paraspinal and positive extension/rotation test was 85% sensitive and 91% specific for facet joint pain (Laslett et al., 2006).
In a 2007 systematic review, Hancock et al. did not find evidence for a robust diagnostic test for facet joint pain. In a retrospective chart review (n = 170), DePalma et al. (2011) found that the presence of isolated paramidline LBP increased the probability of facet or sacroiliac joint dysfunction and slightly reduced the likelihood of lumbar disc degeneration. The sensitivity of reporting paramidline pain if the patient has facet joint pain was 96% [95% confidence interval (CI) 83% to 99.4%] for sacroiliac pain and 67% for internal disc disruption. This supports other work indicating that paraspinal or paramidline pain
is a clinical indicator of possible facet joint involvement.
A 2007 consensus study (Wilde et al., 2007) identified clinical features thought to be associated with facet joint pain, such as:
- localised unilateral LBP
- lack of radicular features
- pain eased in flexion
- pain, if referred, is above the knee
- palpation: local unilateral passive movement shows reduced range of motion or increased stiffness on the side of pain
- unilateral muscle spasm over the affected facet joint
- pain in extension
- pain in extension, lateral flexion or rotation to the ipsilateral side.
In a prospective cohort study of medial branch blocks for suspected lumbar or cervical facet pain, Wasan et al. (2009) used selection criteria including a history of axial pain with radiation in an established facet joint referral pattern and tests for facet joint loading signs (extension, side bending and rotation). Although they acknowledged that their study was not designed to confirm diagnosis, Wasan et al. (2009) concluded that the selection criteria reduced the likelihood of radicular pain due to nerve root involvement or non-specific LBP.
In the 2011 protocol for a trial of specific physiotherapy compared with advice, Hahne et al. (2011) argued that if three or more of the following factors are present then there is facet joint dysfunction:
- unilateral LBP
- pain reproduced with lumbar extension and ipsilateral lateral-flexion movements
- pain on ipsilateral passive postero-anterior accessory movement applied through the transverse process or zygapophyseal joint at one or two segments
- improvement in pain or range of movement following a ‘mini-treatment’ of manual therapy directed at the zygapophyseal joint.
The choices of Hahne et al. are grounded in the Maitland’s clinical reasoning approach to identifying a group who would respond to manual therapy (Ford et., 2011). The use of such phenotypically defined subgroups, grounded on clinical reasoning, may be the most appropriate approach to subgroup identification in LBP (Underwood et al., 2011) This approach has not been tested empirically and may not be directly relevant to identifying people likely to respond to facet joint injections.
References:
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from the lumbar facet joints. Pain Pract 2010;10:459–69.
- Revel M, Poiraudeau S, Auleley GR, Payan C, Denke A, Nguyen M, et al. Capacity of the clinical
picture to characterize low back pain relieved by facet joint anesthesia. Proposed criteria to
identify patients with painful facet joints. Spine 1998;23:1972–6.
- Laslett M, Oberg B, Aprill CN, McDonald B. Zygapophysial joint blocks in chronic low back pain: a test of Revel’s model as a screening test. BMC Musculoskelet Disord 2004;5:43.
- Hooten WM, Martin DP, Huntoon MA. Radiofrequency neurotomy for low back pain:
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- Sharma H, Duggan S, Nazir J, Andrews J, Fender D, Sanderson P, et al. Setting ‘diagnostic
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- Laslett M, McDonald B, Aprill CN, Tropp H, Oberg B. Clinical predictors of screening lumbar
zygapophyseal joint blocks: development of clinical prediction rules. Spine J 2006;6:370–9.
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- DePalma MJ, Ketchum JM, Trussell BS, Saullo TR, Slipman CW. Does the location of low back
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- Wilde VE, Ford JJ, McMeeken JM. Indicators of lumbar zygapophyseal joint pain: survey of an
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- Wasan AD, Jamison RN, Pham L, Tipirneni N, Nedeljkovic SS, Katz JN. Psychopathology predicts the outcome of medial branch blocks with corticosteroid for chronic axial low back or cervical pain: a prospective cohort study. BMC Musculoskelet Disord 2009;10:22.
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part 1 – specific manual therapy. Phys Ther Rev 2011;16:168–77.
- Underwood M, Mistry D, Lall R, Lamb S. Predicting response to a cognitive-behavioral approach to treating low back pain: secondary analysis of the BeST data set. Arthritis Care Res2011;63:1271–9.