Neck pain

DDx

  • Acute or chronic cervical strain, eg, poor sleeping posture, whiplash injury
  • Osteoarthritis, eg, cervical spondylosis on x-ray
  • Herniated disk (discogenic neck pain)
  • Rheumatoid arthritis
  • Ankylosing spondylitis
  • Compression fracture
  • Osteomyelitis
  • Meningitis
  • Migraine
  • Metastatic cancer
  • Spinal stenosis
  • Fibromyalgia
  • Deep neck infection, eg, Ludwig’s angina
  • Thyroiditis
  • Shoulder disorder
  • Subarachnoid hemorrhage
  • Thoracic outlet syndrome
  • Temporal (giant cell) arteritis
  • Carotid artery aneurysm or carotid dissection
  • If myelopathy (eg, bilateral upper extremity findings, lower extremity spasticity or weakness, bladder dysfunction): osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, motor neuron disease, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord tumor, syringomyelia, tropical spastic paresis (HTLV-1)

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Last updated: December 1, 2014