1353 - Predictors of Response to Cervical Medial Branch Blocks: A Retrospective Chart Review

To determine the association between patient characteristics and their response to cervical medical branch block for facet-mediated chronic neck pain.

Design:

Data was collected from all adult patients diagnosed with cervical spondylosis without myelopathy or radiculopathy who underwent cervical MBB for facet-mediated neck pain between May 1, 2024 and August 1, 2024. 76 patients met the inclusion criteria. The following data was collected: age, gender, BMI, chronicity of pain, prior cervical spine surgery, physical therapy prior to procedure, and tobacco use. Percent relief of pain recorded at the first follow up appointment was the primary outcome. Patients with greater than 80% relief were designated as a positive responder. Continuous variables were compared using the t-test, and categorical variables were compared using the chi-square test.

Results:

Of the 76 patients who met inclusion criteria, 48 patients were positive responders to cervical MBB. Patients who participated in physical therapy prior to the procedure were more likely to be positive responders to cervical MBB (p=0.028) as demonstrated in Table 1. The other patient characteristics examined are not statistically significant. 

Conclusions:

This study suggests that age, gender, BMI, chronicity of pain, prior cervical spine surgery, history, and tobacco use are not statistically significant predictors of response to cervical MBB. Physical therapy prior to cervical MBB is a statistically significant predictor of positive response ( < ![if !msEquation] >< ![if !vml] >< ![endif] >< ![endif] >80% pain relief) to cervical MBB. This study is limited by a small sample size. Additional patient characteristics such as presence of absence of injury, pain medications prior to MBB, or history of depression could be examined in future studies.