Radiculopathy DDx
Overview
A radiculopathy is sensory or motor dysfunction resulting from pathology involving a spinal nerve root. Symptoms include weakness, burning, tingling, and ‘shooting’ pain in a nerve root distribution.
Causes
- Disc herniation (most common cause of lumbar radiculopathy)
— lateral herniations tend to compress nerve roots as they exit the neural foramina
— central herniations may compress multiple nerve roots/cauda equina - Chronic degenerative arthritis and spinal stenosis (most common cause of cervical radiculopathy)
- Trauma (often multiple levels, due to nerve root stretch)
- Epidural abscess (back pain, fever, risk factors)
- Epidural metastases (e.g lung, breast, prostate, kidney, and myeloproliferative malignancies)
- Herpes zoster (shingles)
- Lyme disease (polyradiculitis occurs weeks after tick bite and initial rash (erythema chronicum migran
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Critical Care
Compendium
Chris is an Intensivist and ECMO specialist at The Alfred ICU, where he is Deputy Director (Education). He is a Clinical Adjunct Associate Professor at Monash University, the Lead for the Clinician Educator Incubator programme, and a CICM First Part Examiner.
He is an internationally recognised Clinician Educator with a passion for helping clinicians learn and for improving the clinical performance of individuals and collectives. He was one of the founders of the FOAM movement (Free Open-Access Medical education) has been recognised for his contributions to education with awards from ANZICS, ANZAHPE, and ACEM.
His one great achievement is being the father of three amazing children.
On Bluesky, he is @precordialthump.bsky.social and on the site that Elon has screwed up, he is @precordialthump.
| INTENSIVE | RAGE | Resuscitology | SMACC