Background and aims Interventional treatment of chronic pain is widely practiced for a variety of chronic pain presentations. Response to treatment is varied. Better patient selection methods are required to determine which patients are most likely to benefit.

This study aims to establish whether the 2010 American College of Rheumatology Fibromyalgia diagnostic criteria has any predicative value for outcomes of interventional treatments for chronic non-cancer pain.

Methods IRAS registered (project ID;231514) ethically approved prospective research study. Single center study – tertiary pain clinic in the UK. All English-speaking patients selected for therapeutic interventional pain procedures (excluding spinal cord stimulation) on comprehensive clinical assessment by an interventional pain consultant were eligible for inclusion. Consented patients self-completed the 2010 American College of Rheumatology diagnostic questionnaire. Primary outcome was >50% pain reduction 3 months after interventional procedure. Statistical analysis included comparison of means with t-test and median with Mann-Whitney test.

Results 187 patients were recruited, of which 179 remained in the study. Prevalence of fibromyalgia questionnaire positive patients in group A (≥50% pain reduction) was 19.4% vs 23.1% in group B (<50% pain reduction). There was no statistically significant difference between groups A and B (p=0.5332). There was no statistically significant difference in median Widespread Pain Index or Symptom Severity score between groups A and B (p=0.6998 and p=0.3138 respectively).

Conclusions We conclude that the 2010 American College of Rheumatology Fibromyalgia diagnostic criteria does not have any predictive value in selecting patients for interventional pain treatments, if clinical judgment supports the intervention.