To the editor:
We read with interest the systematic review by Ambrosio et al. 1 While the article appears to be well executed, the basic flaws in their analysis must be corrected. The authors included 2 publications by Manchikanti et al.2,3 The important of 2-year follow-up of evaluation of lumbar facet joint nerve blocks in managing chronic low back pain. This was a randomized, double blind controlled trial published in 2010. The second article 2 was related to effectiveness of lumbar facet joint nerve blocks in chronic low back pain published in 2001. 2 The 2010 article was well designed and well performed. 2 Authors have mistaken both studies as intraarticular injections while they are facet joint nerve blocks. In addition, they also utilized a study by Civelek et al. 4 which is also a study of facet joint nerve blocks and they have described as intraarticular injections.
This misclassification results in inappropriate evidence synthesis, and, finally, inappropriate conclusions of the procedures.
Finally, risk of bias and domains appear to be inaccurate as the randomized controlled trial by Manchikanti et al 2 performed appropriate randomization.
Footnotes
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding: The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
ORCID iD
Laxmaiah Manchikanti https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4201-9063
References
- 1.Ambrosio L, Vadalà G, Russo F, et al. Interventional minimally invasive treatments for chronic low back pain caused by lumbar facet joint syndrome: A systematic review. Global Spine J 2022. Online ahead of print. DOI: 10.1177/21925682221142264 [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 2.Manchikanti L, Singh V, Falco FJ, et al. Evaluation of lumbar facet joint nerve blocks in managing chronic low back pain: a randomized, double-blind, controlled trial with a 2-year follow-up. Int J Med Sci 2010;7:124-135. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 3.Manchikanti L, Pampati V, Bakhit CE, et al. Effectiveness of lumbar facet joint nerve blocks in chronic low back pain: a randomized clinical trial. Pain Physician 2001;4:101-117. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 4.Civelek E, Cansever T, Kabatas S, et al. Comparison of effectiveness of facet joint injection and radiofrequency denervation in chronic low back pain. Turk Neurosurg 2012;22:200-206. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]