Aim: This study was carried out to investigate the effect of conventional physiotherapy (CPT) and median nerve radiofrequency therapy (MNRFT) on kinesiophobia in patients with lumbar facet syndrome (LFS).

Methods: The sample of this study consisted of 60 patients over 18 with facet joint pain persisting for at least 3 months and unresponsive to medical treatment were included in the study. The patients were divided into CPT and MNRFT groups of 30 patients each according to the treatment they received. The patients were evaluated for pain severity, kinesiophobia, sleep quality, functional status, and depression both before the treatment and one month after the treatment using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia (TKS), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and Beck’s Depression Inventory (BDI), respectively.

Results: There was a significant difference between the pre- and post-treatment VAS, PSQI, ODI, and BDE scores in both the CPT and MNRFT groups. Additionally, there was a significant difference between the pre- and post-treatment TKS scores in the RFT group, but not in the CPT group. There was no significant difference between the groups in any of the pre-treatment scores. There was also no significant difference between the groups in the post-treatment scores, except for the TKS scores.

Conclusion: The study findings indicated that MNRFT and median nerve blockade reduced kinesiophobia more than CPT.

Keywords: radiofrequency, kinesiophobia, physical therapy, facet joint, pain, depression, oswestry