BrainWaves #116 Pain in the neck

MedLink Neurology Podcast is delighted to feature selected episodes from BrainWaves, courtesy of James E Siegler MD, its originator and host. BrainWaves is an academic audio podcast whose mission is to educate medical providers through clinical cases and topical reviews in neurology, medicine, and the humanities, and episodes originally aired from 2016 to 2021.

Originally released: July 19, 2018

Some have estimated the annual cost of chronic back or neck pain in the US to exceed $200 billion per year. And the economic burden is almost as unbearable as the pain faced by patients. This week on the program, we discuss the clinical and radiographic aspects of structural spine disease--or spondylosis--and expert recommendations on how to manage it.

Produced by James E Siegler. Music by Steve Combs and Scott Holmes. BrainWaves' podcasts and online content are intended for medical education only and should not be used for clinical decision-making, especially not for back surgery.

REFERENCES

Baron EM, Young WF. Cervical spondylotic myelopathy: a brief review of its pathophysiology, clinical course, and diagnosis. Neurosurgery 2007;60(1 Supp1 1):S35-41. PMID 17204884

Farrokhi MR, Ghaffarpasand F, Khani M, Gholami M. An evidence-based stepwise surgical approach to cervical spondylotic myelopathy: a narrative review of the current literature. World Neurosurg 2016;94:97-110. PMID 27389939

Rindler RS, Chokshi FH, Malcolm JG, et al. Spinal diffusion tensor imaging in evaluation of preoperative and postoperative severity of cervical spondylotic myelopathy: systematic review of literature. World Neurosurg 2017;99:150-8. PMID 27939797

Stino AM, LoRusso SJ. Myelopathies due to structural cervical and thoracic disease. Continuum (Minneap Minn) 2018;24(2, Spinal Cord Disorders):567-583. PMID 29613900

Witiw CD, Tetreault LA, Smieliauskas F, Kopjar B, Massicotte EM, Fehlings MG. Surgery for degenerative cervical myelopathy: a patient-centered quality of life and health economic evaluation. Spine J 2017;17(1):15-25. PMID 27793760

We believe that the principles expressed or implied in the podcast remain valid, but certain details may be superseded by evolving knowledge since the episode’s original release date.