Are there any common pitfalls or mistakes to avoid when using LIKE statements in SQL queries to filter results in PHP?

One common pitfall when using LIKE statements in SQL queries in PHP is not properly sanitizing user input, which can lead to SQL injection attacks. To avoid this, always use prepared statements with parameterized queries to securely pass user input to the database query.

// Example of using prepared statements with LIKE in PHP
$searchTerm = $_GET['search_term']; // Assuming this is user input

// Prepare the SQL query with a parameterized LIKE statement
$stmt = $pdo->prepare("SELECT * FROM table_name WHERE column_name LIKE :searchTerm");
$stmt->bindValue(':searchTerm', '%' . $searchTerm . '%', PDO::PARAM_STR);
$stmt->execute();

// Fetch results
$results = $stmt->fetchAll();