Cervical facet joint arthrography

We describe a technique for cervical facet joint arthrography; a posterior approach is used. The patient is positioned prone, the neck flexed maximally, and the head turned 60-90 degrees opposite to the side of injection. The x-ray tube is angled cephalad in order to obtain a true tangent to the facet joint. The needle is inserted using fluoroscopic control in a direction parallel to the x-ray beam. Before the therapeutic infiltration, the intraarticular position of the needle is confirmed by injecting 0.3 ml of contrast medium.