{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,28]],"date-time":"2026-08-28T13:35:06Z","timestamp":1787924106326,"version":"build-2784847793"},"reference-count":9,"publisher":"Scientific Scholar","content-domain":{"domain":["surgicalneurologyint.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":[],"abstract":"\n Background:<\/jats:title>\n Chronic low back pain (LBP) is a major healthcare burden that reduces quality of life and productivity. Vertebral segmental microinstability is considered a contributing factor in LBP, while radiological signs reflecting biomechanical dysfunction, including disc degeneration, Modic changes, muscle fatty infiltration, and facet joint (FJ) dilatation, remain insufficiently defined as clinical markers.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Methods:<\/jats:title>\n This was a retrospective cohort study involving 168 adults with chronic LBP. Patients underwent clinical examination including passive lumbar extension (PLE), supine\u2013sit, iliopsoas and quadratus muscle tests, along with lumbar spine magnetic resonance imaging. Imaging findings assessment included rating of FJ dilatation (grades 0\u20132), Modic changes (grades 0\u20132), disc degeneration (grades 1\u20135), and muscle fatty infiltration (grades 0\u20133). Pain intensity was measured using a 0\u201310 Visual Analog Scale.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Results:<\/jats:title>\n \n Among 168 patients, 70.5% (\n n<\/jats:italic>\n = 120) demonstrated some degree of FJ dilatation, while 16.7% (\n n<\/jats:italic>\n = 28) had high-grade dilatation. Dilatation was significantly associated with Modic type 1 changes, grade 4\/5 disc degeneration, muscle fatty infiltration grade 2\/3, positive PLE test, and FJ asymmetry. Three factors that did not significantly impact FJ dilatation included disc protrusion, supine-sit test, and muscle dysfunction test.\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Conclusion:<\/jats:title>\n For patients with chronic LBP, FJ dilatation is significantly associated with vertebral degeneration and clinical indicators of lumbar microinstability.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.25259\/sni_704_2026","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,28]],"date-time":"2026-08-28T13:12:58Z","timestamp":1787922778000},"page":"488","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.25259\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Facet joint dilatation as a radiological indicator of vertebral segmental microinstability"],"prefix":"10.25259","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Maka","family":"Khachidze","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, Ilia State University, School of Natural Sciences and Medicine, Tbilisi, Georgia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nino","family":"Kraveishvili","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurology, Tbilisi Institute of Medicine, Tbilisi, Georgia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nini","family":"Nikabadze","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, Ilia State University, School of Natural Sciences and Medicine, Tbilisi, Georgia"},{"name":"Department of Radiology, Todua Clinic, Tbilisi, Georgia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mikheil","family":"Okujava","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, Ilia State University, School of Natural Sciences and Medicine, Tbilisi, Georgia"},{"name":"Department of Radiology, Todua Clinic, Tbilisi, Georgia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"10894","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"10.25259\/SNI_704_2026\/ref-1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3723","DOI":"10.1007\/s00586-016-4459-7","article-title":"Pathobiology of modic changes","volume":"25","author":"Dudli","year":"2016","journal-title":"Eur Spine J"},{"key":"10.25259\/SNI_704_2026\/ref-2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"14","DOI":"10.1186\/s12998-015-0058-7","article-title":"A literature review of clinical tests for lumbar instability in low back pain: Validity and applicability in clinical practice","volume":"23","author":"Ferrari","year":"2015","journal-title":"Chiropr Man Therap"},{"key":"10.25259\/SNI_704_2026\/ref-3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"483","DOI":"10.1186\/s12891-017-1849-x","article-title":"Correlation between facet tropism and lumbar degenerative disease: A retrospective analysis","volume":"18","author":"Gao","year":"2017","journal-title":"BMC Musculoskelet Disord"},{"key":"10.25259\/SNI_704_2026\/ref-4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"47","DOI":"10.4103\/0974-8237.156031","article-title":"Vertical facetal instability: Is it the point of genesis of spinal spondylotic disease?","volume":"6","author":"Goel","year":"2015","journal-title":"J Craniovertebr Junction Spine"},{"key":"10.25259\/SNI_704_2026\/ref-5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"S240","DOI":"10.1002\/acr.20543","article-title":"Measures of adult pain: Visual analog scale for pain (VAS Pain), Numeric rating scale for pain (NRS Pain), McGill pain questionnaire (MPQ), Short-form McGill pain questionnaire (SF-MPQ), Chronic pain grade scale (CPGS), Short form-36 bodily pain scale (SF-36 BPS), and measure of Intermittent and constant osteoarthritis pain (ICOAP)","volume":"63","author":"Hawker","year":"2011","journal-title":"Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken)"},{"key":"10.25259\/SNI_704_2026\/ref-6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"383","DOI":"10.1097\/00002517-199212000-00001","article-title":"The stabilizing system of the spine. Part I. Function, dysfunction, adaptation, and enhancement","volume":"5","author":"Panjabi","year":"1992","journal-title":"J Spinal Disord"},{"key":"10.25259\/SNI_704_2026\/ref-7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"371","DOI":"10.1016\/S1050-6411(03)00044-0","article-title":"Clinical spinal instability and low back pain","volume":"13","author":"Panjabi","year":"2003","journal-title":"J Electromyogr Kinesiol"},{"key":"10.25259\/SNI_704_2026\/ref-8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"102504","DOI":"10.1016\/j.msksp.2022.102504","article-title":"Combining clinical exams can better predict lumbar spine radiographic instability","volume":"58","author":"Seyedhoseinpoor","year":"2022","journal-title":"Musculoskelet Sci Pract"},{"key":"10.25259\/SNI_704_2026\/ref-9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3521","DOI":"10.2147\/JPR.S227153","article-title":"Prevalence of facet effusion and its relationship with lumbar spondylolisthesis and low back pain: The Wakayama spine study","volume":"12","author":"Shinto","year":"2019","journal-title":"J Pain Res"}],"container-title":["Surgical Neurology International"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"http:\/\/surgicalneurologyint.com\/facet-joint-dilatation-as-a-radiological-indicator-of-vertebral-segmental-microinstability","content-type":"text\/html","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"http:\/\/surgicalneurologyint.com\/surgicalint-articles\/facet-joint-dilatation-as-a-radiological-indicator-of-vertebral-segmental-microinstability","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,28]],"date-time":"2026-08-28T13:13:00Z","timestamp":1787922780000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"http:\/\/surgicalneurologyint.com\/surgicalint-articles\/facet-joint-dilatation-as-a-radiological-indicator-of-vertebral-segmental-microinstability"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,28]]},"references-count":9,"alternative-id":["10.25259\/SNI_704_2026"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.25259\/sni_704_2026","relation":{},"ISSN":["2152-7806","2229-5097"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2152-7806","type":"electronic"},{"value":"2229-5097","type":"print"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,28]]},"article-number":"488"}}