The spine journal : official journal of the North American Spine Society
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The current criterion standard for zygapophyseal (facet) joint pain diagnosis is placebo-controlled triple comparative local anesthetic facet joint or medial branch blocks. Single photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) scanning is a less invasive modality that has been widely used in patients with spinal pain for the diagnosis of facet joint arthritis. Previous studies have shown that SPECT results correlate well with response to facet joints steroid injections. ⋯ In a hospital-wide population with spinal pain, there is a 42.88% prevalence of increased uptake in the facet joint on SPECT. The incidence increases significantly with advancing age. SPECT can play a role in investigating patients with spinal pain.