Evaluation of endoscopic dorsal ramus rhizotomy in managing facetogenic chronic low back pain

Abstract Objective To study the effectiveness of surgical dorsal endoscopic rhizotomy for the treatment of facetogenic chronic low back pain. Methods From April 2011 to November 2011, 58 patients who were diagnosed with lumbar facetogenic chronic low back pain (CLBP) and thereafter experienced >80% reliefs of pain with two comparative lumbar medial branch blocks were recruited in the study. Of those 58 patients, 45 cases (the operation group) received dorsal endoscopic rhizotomy, and the remaining 13 cases (the conservative group) received conservative treatment. Patients’ preoperative and postoperative VAS score, percentage of pain relief and the MacNab score were analyzed and compared. Anatomic variations and any possible complications were recorded. Results In the operation group, VAS scores of pain (low back/referred) at any time point postoperatively were significantly lower than that before MBB ( P P  > 0.05). In the conservative group, VAS scores of pain (low back/referred) at any time point postoperatively with conservative treatment decreased significantly compared with that before MBB ( P P P Conclusion Dorsal endoscopic rhizotomy is safe and effective for the facetogenic CLBP, and can achieve better clinical outcome than the conservative treatment.