Cervical Medial Branch Block Versus Ipsilateral Cervical Erector Spinae Plane Block
For patients and families
In plain language
An automatic summary of structured registry data. It is an orientation aid, not a substitute for the official protocol or a physician assessment.
- What is being studied
- The protocol lists: Ultrasound-guided cervical medial branch block, Ultrasound-guided cervical erector spinae plane block.
- Who it may be relevant to
- Registry conditions: Cervical Facetogenic Pain, Chronic Neck Pain, Cervical Facet Joint Syndrome. Basic parameters: from 18 years · All.
- What needs checking
- Age, condition and sex are only basic indicators. Prior treatment, laboratory values and other mandatory requirements appear in the eligibility criteria below.
- Where it takes place
- Turkey (Türkiye)
- Next step
- Save the trial, show it to the treating physician, and confirm current recruitment with the study center. Costs, documents and travel →
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Official title
Ultrasound-Guided Cervical Medial Branch Block Versus Ipsilateral Cervical Erector Spinae Plane Block in Cervical Facetogenic Pain: A Prospective Randomized Controlled Study
Overview
This prospective randomized controlled study aims to compare the analgesic effectiveness of ultrasound-guided cervical medial branch block and ipsilateral cervical erector spinae plane block in patients with cervical facetogenic pain. Patients with chronic cervical facet-mediated pain will be randomized into two intervention groups. Pain intensity, functional status, meaningful pain response rates, analgesic consumption, and patient satisfaction will be evaluated during follow-up. The primary objective is to determine whether cervical erector spinae plane block provides comparable short-term pain relief to cervical medial branch block.
Detailed description
Cervical facet joints are an important source of chronic axial neck pain. Diagnostic cervical medial branch block is commonly used to identify facet-mediated pain and may also provide short-term analgesic benefit. However, this procedure requires precise targeting of the cervical medial branches and may be technically demanding in some patients.
The cervical erector spinae plane block is an ultrasound-guided interfascial plane block that may provide analgesia through cranio-caudal spread of local anesthetic along the paraspinal fascial plane. Although it has been increasingly used for perioperative and chronic pain indications, its role in cervical facetogenic pain has not been clearly established.
This study will compare the short-term analgesic effectiveness of ultrasound-guided cervical medial branch block and ipsilateral cervical erector spinae plane block in patients with clinically suspected cervical facetogenic pain. Eligible patients will be randomized to receive one of the two ultrasound-guided interventions. Pain intensity, functional disability, meaningful pain response, analgesic use, patient satisfaction, and procedure-related adverse events will be assessed during follow-up.
The study is designed to determine whether cervical erector spinae plane block can provide clinically meaningful pain relief comparable to cervical medial branch block in this patient population.
Interventions
- Other Ultrasound-guided cervical medial branch block
Ultrasound-guided cervical medial branch block performed at clinically suspected symptomatic cervical facet levels using local anesthetic for diagnostic and analgesic purposes. - Other Ultrasound-guided cervical erector spinae plane block
Ultrasound-guided ipsilateral cervical erector spinae plane block performed at the symptomatic cervical level using local anesthetic for analgesic purposes.
Primary outcome measures
- Meaningful Pain Response [Time frame: Time Frame: 1 hour after the procedure]
Secondary outcome measures (7)
- NRS24 [Time frame: at 24 Hours]
- NRS1 [Time frame: 1 week after the procedure]
- NDI [Time frame: Baseline and 1 week after the procedure]
- GPE [Time frame: 1 week after the procedure]
- Analgesic Consumption [Time frame: 24 hours and 1 week after the procedure]
- Patient Satisfaction [Time frame: 1 week after the procedure]
- Complications [Time frame: Perioperative/Periprocedural]
Eligibility criteria
Inclusion criteria
- Age between 18 and 80 years
- Chronic neck pain lasting at least 3 months
- Clinical findings suggestive of cervical facetogenic pain
- Numeric Rating Scale pain score ≥4
- Ability to provide informed consent
Exclusion criteria
- Cervical radiculopathy or myelopathy
- Major neurological deficit
- Infection at the injection site
- Coagulopathy or anticoagulant therapy contraindicating intervention
- Allergy to local anesthetics
- Pregnancy
- Previous cervical interventional pain procedure within the last 3 months
- Severe psychiatric disease
Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.
Healthy volunteers: No
Study design
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Model
- Parallel assignment
- Masking
- Single blind
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
Study locations
Turkey (Türkiye) · 1 center
- Ankara Bilkent City Hospital — Ankara
Publications
- Elsharkawy H, Ince I, Hamadnalla H, Drake RL, Tsui BCH. Cervical erector spinae plane block: a cadaver study. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2020 Jul;45(7):552-556. doi: 10.1136/rapm-2019-101154. Epub 2020 Apr 21. PMID 32321860
Identifiers
NCT: NCT07595406 · 123456