Lumbar Medial Branch Minimally Invasive Pain and Spine Intervention for Low Back Pain in Postpolio Syndrome

Postpolio syndrome (PPS) involves a constellation of symptoms which may include back pain, slowly progressive muscle limbs paresis with muscle atrophy, joints pain, and/or paraesthesia, observed in polio survivors years after poliovirus infection. A 70-year-old male, a survivor of childhood poliomyelitis, presented with severe low back pain of gradual onset. After a thorough evaluation, the pain was identified as facetogenic in origin, and a diagnostic cum therapeutic medial branch minimally invasive pain and spine intervention was performed from T12-L, providing significant relief. Cooled radiofrequency ablation of the medial branch was performed as a definitive treatment later. This case highlights the intersection of PPS and facet joint pathology and demonstrates the effectiveness of medial branch blocks in managing facet joint-related low back pain in such patients.