Osteoarthritis of the spine: the facet joints. Review uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • Osteoarthritis (OA) of the spine involves the facet joints, which are located in the posterior aspect of the vertebral column and, in humans, are the only true synovial joints between adjacent spinal levels. Facet joint osteoarthritis (FJ OA) is widely prevalent in older adults, and is thought to be a common cause of back and neck pain. The prevalence of facet-mediated pain in clinical populations increases with increasing age, suggesting that FJ OA might have a particularly important role in older adults with spinal pain. Nevertheless, to date FJ OA has received far less study than other important OA phenotypes such as knee OA, and other features of spine pathoanatomy such as degenerative disc disease. This Review presents the current state of knowledge of FJ OA, including relevant anatomy, biomechanics, epidemiology, and clinical manifestations. We present the view that the modern concept of FJ OA is consonant with the concept of OA as a failure of the whole joint, and not simply of facet joint cartilage.

publication date

  • November 13, 2012

Research

keywords

  • Osteoarthritis
  • Spinal Diseases
  • Zygapophyseal Joint

Identity

PubMed Central ID

  • PMC4012322

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 84876413349

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1038/nrrheum.2012.198

PubMed ID

  • 23147891

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 9

issue

  • 4