Teaching Points
- The diagnostic yield of indiscriminate radiography for the assessment of non-traumatic neck pain is low
- 'Reg Flags' that prompt imaging include - Unexplained weight loss, fever, history of malignancy or immune compromise, IVDU, rheumatalogical condition, Age > 70, severe headaches, dysphagia/nausea/vomiting and compensation/work injury issues
- Initial radiography is with plain films
- If there are neurological symptoms or signs, a MRI is indicated
- Multidetector CT or CT myelography are alternatives to MRI
File Formats
Some documents for download on this website are in a Portable Document Format (PDF). To read these files you might need to download Adobe® Acrobat Reader.
