Neck Pain with Arm Radiation — The Cervical Radiculopathy Framework
A 50-year-old man with right-sided neck pain radiating to the index finger with burning sensation. Is it spondylosis? Disc herniation? Pancoast tumour? This guide teaches you how to diagnose at the bedside.
Why This Guide Exists
Neck pain radiating to the arm. You see this in your OPD every week. And every week, you face the same diagnostic fork — is this cervical spondylosis? A disc herniation? Thoracic outlet syndrome? Could it be a Pancoast tumour?
Most GPs prescribe a muscle relaxant, an NSAID, and a cervical collar. Some order an MRI immediately. Neither approach is wrong — but neither is clinical reasoning. The doctor who knows that the index finger means C7, that a positive Spurling test has 93% specificity, that pectoral pain from a cervical root is not cardiac — that doctor diagnoses at the bedside.
This 8-page clinical reasoning guide gives you the structured thinking process for cervical radiculopathy — from reading the clues in the presenting complaint to performing the four key examination steps to ordering the right investigations in the right sequence.
Ready to Master Cervical Radiculopathy Diagnosis?
Create a free account or log in to purchase this guide. The next patient with neck pain and tingling fingers will meet a GP who knows which root is talking.