facettisidottuja

Facettisidottuja is a Finnish medical term used to describe facet joints in the spine that have undergone fusion, or arthrodesis, resulting in reduced mobility of the affected spinal segment. Fusion can occur due to degenerative spine disease, inflammatory spondyloarthropathies such as ankylosing spondylitis, trauma, or as a consequence of surgical stabilization.

In the spine, facet joints (zygapophyseal joints) normally allow controlled motion between adjacent vertebrae. When these joints fuse, stiffness and altered biomechanics can contribute to chronic local pain, compensate with increased motion at adjacent levels, and potentially affect nearby neural structures if foraminal space is compromised. The condition may be asymptomatic or associated with varying degrees of discomfort and reduced range of motion.

Diagnosis is based on clinical evaluation and imaging. Plain radiographs may show signs of joint bridging and loss of joint space, while computed tomography (CT) provides the clearest demonstration of bony fusion. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can evaluate soft tissue changes, adjacent segment pathology, and nerve involvement.

Management is individualized. Asymptomatic fusions generally require no specific treatment. For symptomatic cases, conservative measures are commonly used, including physical therapy to maintain flexibility, analgesics or NSAIDs, and facet joint injections for diagnostic or therapeutic relief. If pain arises from adjacent segment disease or instability, surgical options such as decompression or additional stabilization may be considered, though further fusion at the fused level is often limited.

Epidemiology varies with underlying disease; facet fusion is more common in older patients with degenerative changes or long-standing inflammatory spine disorders. The term facettisidottuja is primarily found in Finnish-language medical literature to denote this fused-state condition of the facet joints.