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The Specificity of Cervical Facet Medial Branch Blocks

NCT00613340 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 20

Last updated 2009-08-07

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Cervical facet arthropathy is a common cause of chronic neck pain. The "gold standard" for diagnosis is either blocking the facet joints, or more commonly blocking the medial branch nerves that innervate the joints. However, many studies have found a high false-positive rate when the nerves are blocked using 0.5 ml of local anesthetic. We will randomize patients to receive either cervical facet medial branch blocks with 0.25 ml of local anesthetic and contrast, or 0.5 ml. We will then do a CT scan to determine the accuracy and specificity of each block. Our hypothesis is that using the higher volume (0.5 ml) might be responsible for the high false-positive rate.

Conditions

  • Neck Pain
  • Cervical Facet Arthropathy

Interventions

PROCEDURE

Cervical medial branch blocks

Cervical medial branch blocks done with 0.25 ml of local anesthetic and contrast

PROCEDURE

Cervical medial branch blocks

Cervical medial branch blocks with 0.5 ml of local anesthetic and contrast

Sponsors & Collaborators

Principal Investigators

  • Steven P Cohen, MD · Walter Reed Army Medical Center

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2008-01-31
Primary Completion
2009-04-30
Completion
2009-04-30

Countries

  • United States

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT00613340 on ClinicalTrials.gov