{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,12]],"date-time":"2026-06-12T18:08:04Z","timestamp":1781287684786,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":29,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,28]],"date-time":"2023-05-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1685232000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Medicina"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Objective: This systematic review and meta-analysis compared the patient-reported outcomes of intra-articular facet joint injections of normal saline and selected active substances to identify a more effective agent for treating subacute and chronic low back pain (LBP). Methods: The PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, and CENTRAL databases were searched for randomized controlled trials and observational studies published in English. A research quality assessment was performed using ROB2 and ROBINS-I. A meta-analysis was conducted using a random-effects model, and the mean differences (MD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) in efficacy outcomes, including pain, numbness, disability, and quality of life, were assessed. Results: Of the 2467 potential studies, 3 were included (247 patients). The active substances and normal saline had similar therapeutic effects on pain within 1 h, after 1\u20131.5 months, and after 3\u20136 months, with MD and 95% CI of 2.43 and \u221211.61 to 16.50, \u22120.63 and \u22127.97 to 6.72, and 1.90 and \u221216.03 to 19.83, respectively, as well as on the quality of life after 1 and 6 months. Conclusions: The short- and long-term clinical effects of intra-articular facet joint injections of normal saline are comparable to those of other active substances in patients with LBP.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/medicina59061038","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,28]],"date-time":"2023-05-28T15:29:52Z","timestamp":1685287792000},"page":"1038","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Intra-Articular Facet Joint Injection of Normal Saline for Chronic Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"59","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9920-7188","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Areerat","family":"Suputtitada","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Rama 4 Road, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand"},{"name":"Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, The Thai Red Cross Society, Bangkok 10330, Thailand"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0428-973X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tanawin","family":"Nopsopon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand"},{"name":"Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Brigham and Women\u2019s and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5460-0808","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Thanitsara","family":"Rittiphairoj","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3818-9761","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Krit","family":"Pongpirul","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, The Thai Red Cross Society, Bangkok 10330, Thailand"},{"name":"Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA"},{"name":"Department of Infection Biology & Microbiomes, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3BX, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"49","article-title":"Global, regional and national burden of low back pain 1990\u20132019: A systematic analysis of the Global Burden of Disease study 2019","volume":"32","author":"Chen","year":"2021","journal-title":"J. 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