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We present a case of percutaneous fixation of a "carrot-stick" spinal fracture in an elderly patient with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). A surgical stabilization was not possible in this 83-year-old man with comorbidities. Under local anesthesia, percutaneous screw fixation of a transdiscal shear fracture at the level T10-T11 was performed using computed tomography (CT) and fluoroscopy guidance. Two 4.0-mm Asnis III cannulated screws were placed to fix facet joints using transfacet pedicle pathway. The procedure time was 30 min. Using the visual analog scale (VAS), pain decreased from 10, preoperatively, to 1 after the procedure. Radiographic fusion was observed at a 3-month post-procedural CT scan. CT- and fluoroscopy-guided percutaneous screw fixation of spinal fractures could potentially be an alternative to surgery in elderly AS patients with poor performance status.

To evaluate percutaneous computed tomography (CT)-guided intracystic and intra-articular steroid injections for the treatment of lumbar facet joint cyst causing radicular pain.A single-centre prospective study involving 120 consecutive patients with symptomatic lumbar facet joint cyst-induced radicular pain was done (72 women, 48 men). The average age was 68.2 years (52-84). Patients were treated by percutaneous CT-guided intracystic and intra-articular steroid injections. The clinical course of nerve root pain was evaluated after 1 day, and 1, 3 and 6 months, with long-term follow-up after 12 months.Patient follow-ups in our series show supportive results: within 120 patients, 54% of patients were satisfied with a long-lasting result from the first intra-cystic and intra-articular steroid injections (n = 65), while 20.8% were satisfied with a long-lasting result from a second intervention. Combining these two results shows that 75% of patients were satisfied with a long-lasting result.Our results showed that percutaneous treatment of vertebral lumbar facet joint cysts by double injections is an effective and economic therapeutic technical management among 75% of our patients. Thus we recommend that it should be considered as a first choice of treatment.Lumbar facet joint cysts are a common feature of back and radicular pain. They may be treated effectively by interventional radiologists using CT guidance. Percutaneous treatment using double injections can save surgery in 75% of patients.