Article

Emergency Imaging

A 41-year-old woman with a surgical history of cervical fusion presented with severe posterior neck pain.


 

References

Case

A 41-year-old woman presented to the ED with a 3-day history of posterior neck pain that radiated to the occipital region. The patient stated that the day prior to presentation, the pain had worsened to what she rated as a “9” on a pain scale of 0 to 10. The patient’s surgical history included a remote prior cervical fusion at C5-C6. A lateral radiograph of the cervical spine is shown above (Figure 1a).

Figure 1a

What is the diagnosis? Is additional imaging necessary? If so, why?

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