• Nikolai Bogduk and John MacVicar.
• School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW, Australia.
• Pain Med. 2024 Sep 1; 25 (9): 541552541-552.

BackgroundZygapophysial joints (Z joints) can be a source of back pain and of neck pain, but the cause of pain is not known. Some authors attribute the pain to osteoarthritis but without citing evidence.ObjectivesThe present review was undertaken to determine if there was sufficient evidence of association between spinal pain and osteoarthritis of Z joints to justify osteoarthritis being held to be the cause of pain. The null hypothesis was that osteoarthritis of Z joints does not cause back pain or neck pain.Eligibility CriteriaRelevant studies were ones that provided primary data on the association between pain and osteoarthritis of Z joints. These could be population studies, diagnostic studies, or case-control studies.Sources Of EvidenceThe database of PubMed was searched using the terms: Lumbar or cervical, zygapophysial or facet, pain, and osteoarthritis or degeneration or degenerative.Charting MethodsData pertinent to the research question were extracted from original articles and tabulated for reporting. Odds ratios for associations were calculated, as were the prevalence rates of osteoarthritis in subjects with pain, and conversely the prevalence rates of pain in subjects with osteoarthritis.ResultsThe searches retrieved 11 population studies, 4 diagnostic studies, and 3 cases control studies. No study showed any positive association between osteoarthritis of Z joints and pain. All studies found pain to be independent of the presence or severity of osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis was as common in subjects with no pain as in subjects with pain. The null hypothesis was not refuted.ConclusionThe published evidence does not support the belief that osteoarthritis causes Z joint pain. All the evidence contradicts this belief.© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Academy of Pain Medicine.

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