• Hanzade Aybüke Ünal, Ahmet Başarı, Güngör Enver Özgencil, Özgün Ömer Asiller, and Başak Ceyda Meço.
• Ankara University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pain Medicine, Ankara University Ibni Sina Hospital, Ankara, Turkey. Electronic address: hanzadeunal@windowslive.com.
• World Neurosurg. 2025 Jan 17; 194: 123585123585.

ObjectiveCervical medial branch blocks (CMBBs) are frequently used for the treatment of facet arthropathy. The present study compares the effectiveness of lidocaine and prilocaine in CMBB procedures.MethodsPatients with facet arthropathy scheduled for CMBB were randomly divided into 2 groups who were administered a combination of 2 mg dexamethasone and either 1% lidocaine or 1% prilocaine with a total volume of 1 mL per level. All patients were assessed prior to the procedure (baseline), and at 1 hour, 1 week, and 1 month after the procedure using the Numeric Rating Scale-11 (NRS-11), Neck Disability Index (NDI), and patient satisfaction was evaluated at 1 hour, 1 week, and 1 month after the procedure.ResultsA total of 97 patients were included in the study (n = 49 in the lidocaine group and n = 48 in the prilocaine group). A significant decrease was noted in the NRS-11 and NDI scores recorded during all follow-up assessments in both groups (P < 0.001), while the NRS-11, NDI scores, and patient satisfaction did not statistically differ between groups at 1 hour, 1 week, and 1 month following the procedure (P ˃ 0.05).ConclusionsCMMB achieved with either lidocaine or prilocaine decreased the recorded pain severity and disability scores to a similar degree. The selection of either lidocaine or prilocaine for CMBB is thus at the clinician's discretion.Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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