Localized cervical pain: advantages and limits of ultrasound evaluation.

Purpose: Cervical pain is very frequent in the general population. In clinical practice, plain X-ray and, in selected cases, computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging, are performed. However, the feasibility and utility of ultrasound examination have been poorly investigated. Aim of the present study was to evaluate whether ultrasound could be useful in the diagnosis of localized cervical pain.
Methods: Subjects suffering from posterior cervical pain without irradiation to surrounding tissues were enrolled. After clinical and functional evaluation (demographic and anthropometric data, VAS at rest and during neck movements, symptoms duration, and characteristics of pain onset [atraumatic or traumatic]), an ultrasound exam of the cervical spine was performed according to standard protocols.
Results: The anatomic structures of the neck district were visualized in 124/127 enrolled patients and pathological features were observed in 58. Significant ultrasound differences were registered between the patients with traumatic and atraumatic onset of neck pain. In the first group, articular effusion, capsular bulging, disalignment and avulsion of the articular apex were observed, whereas in the latter cortical irregularities, osteophytosis, and articular ankylosis were prevalent.
Conclusions: Ultrasound examination can be used as diagnostic tool in the evaluation of selected patients suffering from localized cervical pain, particularly in cases of pain due to traumatic injuries.
Competing Interests: The authors declare no potential conflicts of interests with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article. They do not have a financial relationship with the organization that sponsored the research. The authors have full control of all primary data and agree to allow the journal to review their data if requested. Ethical approval The experiments comply with the current laws of the country in which they were performed. All procedures performed in study involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent Informed written consent was obtained from all the subjects.