Endoscopic radiofrequency facet joint treatment in patients with low back pain: technique and long-term results. A prospective cohort study.

Low-back pain has facet joints inflammation or degeneration as pain generator in 20-40% of cases. Nervous lesion of the dorsal ramus innervating the facet joints has been shown as an efficacious treatment to obtain good analgesia. Percutaneous techniques have provided short term results for several reasons. This research aimed to see whether endoscopic denervation, which guarantees a more precise approach to anatomical structure, would result in more durable results. The study conducted on 40 patients has made it clear that this approach gives significant analgesia for at least 2 years, which was the time of patient follow up.