Mechanical Needling with Sterile Water versus Steroids Injection for Facet Joint Syndrome: A Retrospective Observational Study

Table 1

General characteristics.

	Total (4276)	USG mechanical needling with sterile water (n = 4228)	USG mechanical needling with sterile water, random with age- and gender-matched to steroids (n = 96/4228)	USG steroids (n = 48)	value
Female (%)	2923 (68.36%)	2889 (68.33%)	34 (69.38%)	34 (69.38%)
Age (mean ± SD) (years)	71.45 ± 8.23	71.31 ± 8.19	70.59 + 6.12	70.59 + 6.12
Range (min-max)	60–92	60–92	61–88	61–88
BMI (kg/m^2)	24.35 ± 3.12	24.61 ± 3.09	24.27 + 3.11	23.92 ± 2.87	0.892
	(19.5-32.5)	(19.5-32.5)	(20.5–29.5)	(21.0-29.0)
Duration of LBP (years)	12.09 ± 6.11	12.41 ± 6.27	9.85 + 4.31	8.45 ± 5.24	0.182
Range (min-max)	5–30	6–30	5–20	5–18

The comparison between random sterile water (n = 96) and steroids (n = 48) using Mann-Whitney U test; significant difference at .