An interventional study of Ultrasound-guided cervical medial branch block and Ultrasound-guided cervical erector spinae plane block in Cervical Facetogenic Pain, Chronic Neck Pain and Cervical Facet Joint Syndrome, sponsored by Ankara City Hospital Bilkent. Not yet recruiting at 1 site in Turkey (Türkiye). Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-05-19.
Sponsored by Ankara City Hospital Bilkent · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment
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.
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.
Ankara City Hospital Bilkent is the lead sponsor of 424 studies on the registry; 105 are open to participants now.
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Exclusion Criteria:
Ultrasound-guided cervical medial branch block will be performed at the clinically suspected symptomatic cervical facet levels.
Other: Ultrasound-guided cervical medial branch block
Ultrasound-guided ipsilateral cervical erector spinae plane block will be performed at the symptomatic cervical level. I
Other: Ultrasound-guided cervical erector spinae plane block
Ultrasound-guided cervical medial branch block performed at clinically suspected symptomatic cervical facet levels using local anesthetic for diagnostic and analgesic purposes.
Ultrasound-guided ipsilateral cervical erector spinae plane block performed at the symptomatic cervical level using local anesthetic for analgesic purposes.
Meaningful Pain Response
Proportion of patients achieving at least 50% reduction in Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) pain score during the early post-procedural period.
Time frame: Time Frame: 1 hour after the procedure
NRS24
Change in pain intensity measured using the 11-point Numeric Rating Scale (0=no pain, 10=worst imaginable pain).
Time frame: at 24 Hours
NRS1
Change in pain intensity measured using the 11-point Numeric Rating Scale.( 0=no pain, 10=worst imaginable pain)
Time frame: 1 week after the procedure
NDI
Functional disability associated with neck pain assessed using the Neck Disability Index.0 = no disability 50 = complete disability Higher scores indicate greater neck-related functional disability (worse outcome).
Time frame: Baseline and 1 week after the procedure
GPE
Patient-reported global improvement evaluated using a 7-point Global Perceived Effect scale. The GPE scale ranges from -5 to +5, where: -5 = vastly worse 0 = no change +5 = completely recovered
Time frame: 1 week after the procedure
Analgesic Consumption
Need for rescue analgesic medication after the procedure.
Time frame: 24 hours and 1 week after the procedure
Patient Satisfaction
Patient satisfaction regarding the procedure.
Time frame: 1 week after the procedure
Complications
Procedure-related adverse events and complications.
Time frame: Perioperative/Periprocedural
Plan to share: Undecided
This study is not yet recruiting, as verified in May 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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Ankara City Hospital Bilkent