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Facet Joints (facet + joint)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	50%
Life Sciences	50%

Selected Abstracts

Streptococcus pneumoniae-associated arthritis of a lumbar facet joint in a 4-year-old boy

PEDIATRICS INTERNATIONAL, Issue 1 2004
Yasutaka Nishimura
No abstract is available for this article. [source]

Association of rudimentary sacral zygapophyseal facets and accessory and ligamentous articulations: Implications for load transmission at the L5-S1 junction

CLINICAL ANATOMY, Issue 6 2010
Niladri Kumar Mahato
Abstract Weight transmitted from the fifth lumbar vertebrae to the sacrum is distributed as three separate components between (a) the vertebral bodies anteriorly, (b) the transverse elements intermediately, and (c) the lumbosacral facet joints, posteriorly. The posterior components of the fifth lumbar vertebra share greater proportion of load in comparison with the posterior elements of the upper lumbar vertebral levels. This study focuses on rudimentary lumbosacral facet articulations and their possible effects on load sharing at this region. Twenty sacra bearing rudimentary articulations were collected for analysis. Sixteen of these sacra presented unilateral rudimentary facets, and the remaining four had facets that were bilaterally rudimentary. Thirteen of the sacra with unilateral rudimentary facets showed an accessory articulating area on the upper surface of the ala on the same side as the rudimentary zygapophyseal facet. The remaining three sacra (out of the 16) showed evidence of strong ligamentous attachments between the L5 and S1 transverse elements on the sides of the rudimentary facets. All the sacra with bilateral rudimentary facets demonstrated bilateral accessory L5,S1 articulations. These observations indicated that load transmission at lumbosacral junctions bearing a rudimentary facet joint is not normal and that their associations with strong L5,S1 lumbosacral ligamentous attachments or accessory articulations at the transverse elements serve a compensatory mechanism for load sharing. Clin. Anat. 23:707,711, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

Neurophysiological and biomechanical characterization of goat cervical facet joint capsules

JOURNAL OF ORTHOPAEDIC RESEARCH, Issue 4 2005
Ying Lu
Abstract Cervical facet joints have been implicated as a major source of pain after whiplash injury. We sought to identify facet joint capsule receptors in the cervical spine and quantify their responses to capsular deformation. The response of mechanosensitive afferents in C5,C6 facet joint capsules to craniocaudal stretch (0.5 mm/s) was examined in anaesthetized adult goats. Capsular afferents were characterized into Group III and IV based on their conduction velocity. Two-dimensional strains across the capsules during stretch were obtained by a stereoimaging technique and finite element modeling. 17 (53%) Group III and 14 (56%) Group IV afferents were identified with low strain thresholds of 0.107 ± 0.033 and 0.100 ± 0.046. A subpopulation of low-strain-threshold afferents had discharge rate saturation at the strains of 0.388 ± 0.121 (n = 9, Group III) and 0.341 ± 0.159 (n = 9, Group IV). Two (8%) Group IV units responded only to high strains (0.460 ± 0.170). 15 (47%) Group III and 9 (36%) Group IV units could not be excited even by noxious capsular stretch. Simple linear regressions were conducted with capsular load and principal strain as independent variables and neural response of low-strain-threshold afferents as the dependent variable. Correlation coefficients (R2) were 0.73 ± 0.11 with load, and 0.82 ± 0.12 with principal strain. The stiffness of the C5,C6 capsules was 16.8 ± 11.4 N/mm. Our results indicate that sensory receptors in cervical facet joint capsules are not only capable of signaling a graded physiological mechanical stimulus, but may also elieit pain sensation under excessive deformation. © 2005 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. [source]

Surgical treatment of thoracolumbar fracture through an approach via the paravertebral muscle

ORTHOPAEDIC SURGERY, Issue 3 2009
Wei Pang MD
Objective:, To investigate the methods for, and clinical outcome of, the operative treatment of thoracolumbar fractures through an approach via the paravertebral muscle (PVM). Methods:, From June 2005 to August 2006, 62 patients, comprising 48 men and 14 women with an average age of 45.2 years (range, 21,58) with thoracolumbar fractures without neurological involvement underwent surgical treatment. Twenty-one fractures were located at T12, 24 at L1 and 17 at L2. The study comprised 15 compression and 47 burst fractures with an intact posterior column. Thirty-four cases were selected randomly to undergo surgery through the above approach, while the other 28 cases underwent the traditional procedure. After making a posterior midline incision, which not only facilitates insertion of pedicle screws and fusion of the graft bone at facet joints, but spares the attachment of PVM, the interval between the longissimus and multifidus muscles was undermined. Drainage was not routinely needed and the patients became ambulant with a brace earlier post-operatively. Results:, The new approach had statistically significant advantages (P < 0.005) over the traditional one in regard to blood loss, drainage, duration of recumbency and visual analogue scale (VAS), although the time required was almost the same for the two procedures. Till August 2007, 56 patients were successfully followed up for 12 to 26 months (mean, 18.6) and bone fusion was identified in all cases. Neither reduction loss nor loosening or breakage of the fixation occurred. Conclusion:, The technique of operating through an approach between the PVM is recommended for thoracolumbar fractures because it is much less invasive, can reduce blood loss and accelerates rehabilitation. [source]

The Prevalence of Facet Joint-Related Chronic Neck Pain in Postsurgical and Nonpostsurgical Patients: A Comparative Evaluation

PAIN PRACTICE, Issue 1 2008
Laxmaiah Manchikanti MD
,,Abstract Background: Facet (zygapophysial) joints may be clinically important sources of chronic cervical spinal pain. Previous studies have demonstrated the value and validity of controlled, comparative local anesthetic blocks in the diagnosis of facet joint pain, and reported an overall prevalence of 36% to 67% facet joint involvement in cervical spinal pain. The reports of lumbar facet joint-involvement in postsurgery syndrome have been shown to be highly variable with prevalence ranging from 8% to 32%. To date, however, the prevalence of postsurgical facet joint-related pain in the cervical spine has not been evaluated. In light of this, the present retrospective study was conducted to assess and compare the prevalence of chronic postsurgical facet joint cervical spinal pain to nonsurgical, chronic cervical facet joint pain. Methods: Patients presenting with chronic neck pain were studied. The procedures were performed by a single physician in an interventional pain management ambulatory surgery center. The prevalence of cervical facet joint pain in postsurgical patients was assessed and compared to nonsurgical patients. Results: A total of 251 patients (45 postsurgery vs. 206 nonsurgical patients) with chronic persistent neck pain were evaluated using controlled, comparative local anesthetic blocks in accordance with IASP criteria. The prevalence of the cervical facet joint pain and false-positive rate of single blocks in postsurgical patients were 36% and 50% compared with 39% and 43% in nonsurgical patients. Conclusions: Cervical facet joints are clinically important pain generators in a significant proportion of patients with chronic persistent neck pain after surgical intervention(s). The prevalence of cervical facet joint pain was similar in both postsurgical and nonsurgical patients.,, [source]

Association of rudimentary sacral zygapophyseal facets and accessory and ligamentous articulations: Implications for load transmission at the L5-S1 junction