There are many potential underlying causes for neck and upper extremity pain. All too often, only the most common conditions, such as a disk herniation centrally or carpal tunnel syndrome are explored. The purpose of this course is to review other common problems such as radiculitis, and not so common such as rib arthropathy pain syndromes that can affect the neck and upper extremities. Attention will be given to clinical pearls for recognizing when patients present with such problems, as well as treatments that may prove helpful for both differentially diagnosing and treating various neck and upper extremity pain syndromes, especially many of those that are often missed or overlooked and easily treatable to resolution when they are identified.
Learning Objectives:
Identify primary and secondary pain generators that contribute to neck and upper extremity pain
Describe how regional examinations may be deficient in providing adequate differential diagnosis of neck and upper extremity pain syndromes
Demonstrate how overlapping clinical pathologies can exist and complicate clinical presentations
