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Can MRI scans predict who benefits from spine injections?

NCT ID NCT03304730

Knowledge-focused Sponsor: Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein Source: ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

What the study statuses mean

This study's is highlighted.

Recruitment status, easiest to join first

Recruiting now This study
This trial is taking on new participants right now.
Not yet recruiting
Registered, but not yet taking participants.
By invitation only
Not open to general applications. Only people the study team invites can take part.
Paused
Paused for now. It may or may not start again.
Ongoing
Running, but no longer taking on new participants.
Completed
The trial has finished. Results may not be published yet.
Stopped early
Stopped early, before it reached the end. That can be for many reasons, including safety.
Cancelled
Cancelled before anyone took part.

Expanded access (not trials)

Expanded access
Not a trial. This treatment can be requested outside a study, case by case, for people who qualify.
Expanded access (paused)
Not a trial. The treatment can normally be requested outside a study, but is unavailable right now.
Expanded access (ended)
Not a trial. The treatment could once be requested outside a study, but no longer can.
Approved
The treatment has been approved, so it is available normally rather than through this programme.

When the status isn't known

Details not published
The full record has not been published yet, so there is little to show here.
Status unknown
This status has not been confirmed recently, so it may be out of date.

First seen Oct 07, 2026 · Last updated Oct 08, 2026 · Updated 1 time

Summary

Researchers follow adults with low back pain caused by arthritis in the small facet joints of the spine. Everyone receives an injection of corticosteroid and anesthetic into those joints. The team tracks pain, function, and quality of life for months and checks whether MRI findings or personal traits predict who improves.

What this could mean

Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.

Active substance
a mix of corticosteroid and anesthetic injected into the facet joints of the spine
What this could lead to
If certain MRI findings or patient traits predict who responds, doctors could one day choose facet joint injections more precisely for people with low back pain from facet arthritis.
What could go wrong
This is an observational cohort, so it can show links but not prove cause. Results from 147 Portuguese-speaking adults may not apply to everyone, and injections do not help all patients.

This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.

Study facts

What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.

Participants

About 147 people

The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.

Started

Sep 2017

Expected to finish

Dec 2029

An estimate. End dates often move.

Lead sponsor

Other sponsor

The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.

Who can take part

This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.

Who is studied

All patients seen at the spine outpatient clinic of a tertiary hospital with clinical diagnosis of low back pain of facet origin will be eligible to participate in the study

Ages

18 years and older

Sex

Anyone

Healthy volunteers

Not accepted

This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.

Show the full entry requirements

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion criteria The following are inclusion criteria for participants: * Older than 18 years; * Fluent or native Portuguese language speaker; * Continuous or intermittent low back pain for at least three months; * Low back pain with or without irradiation to the gluteal region indicating facet syndrome (pain is aggravated by spine extension or bending toward the affected side; pain is exacerbated by prolonged sitting or walking up steps, as well as retaining one position for a prolonged time); * Failure of traditional treatment includes, but is not limited to, physical or drug therapy; * Understand the purpose of the study; * Voluntarily provide a free and informed consent form, by themselves or through their partners, and complete the questionnaires, before undergoing infiltration, over the telephone or online during the follow-up. Exclusion criteria The following are exclusion criteria for participants: * Younger than 18 years old, * Symptomatic lumbar spinal stenosis with claudication or radiculopathy; * Evidence of radiculopathy; * Active rheumatologic diseases; * Congenital or acquired deformities of the lumbar spine; * Fracture or sequel of lumbar spine fracture of traumatic, pathological or osteoporotic origin; * Surgical manipulation of the lumbar spine; * MRI scans of limited quality and incomplete sequences; * Treated with systemic steroids less than one month before the IFI; * Treated with IFI with steroids within the last six months; * Diagnosed with uncontrolled diabetes mellitus; * History of allergy to anesthetics or adverse reaction to steroids; * Pregnant women or women who breastfed; * Who could not be contacted over the phone during follow-up.

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Conditions

The condition(s) this trial relates to.

Low Back Pain osteoarthritis, spine

As listed by the trial registrant

The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.

Degenerative arthropathy of lumbar spinal facet joint

How to take part

Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.

  1. The places running it

    1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.

  2. The official record

    ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.

    Open the record ↗

  3. A doctor treating you

    A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.

Contacts and locations

Locations

  • Hospital Israelista Albert Einstein

    RECRUITING

    São Paulo, São Paulo, 05652-900, Brazil