Physical Examinations

Cervical radiculopathy is characterized by neurological dysfunction caused by compression and inflammation of the spinal nerves or nerve roots of the cervical spine. 

It mainly presents with neck and arm pain, sensory loss, motor dysfunction, and reflex changes according to the dermatomal distribution. 

The most common causes of cervical radiculopathy are cervical disc herniation and cervical spondylosis.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the most common imaging method for detecting cervical spine pathologies because it can detect cervical neural lesions directly and non-invasively.

There are several provocative tests to evaluate cervical radiculopathy, but only a few of them have reliably yielded statistically significant differences between patients and controls in research setting.

The tests included are spurling test, neck traction test, valsava, upper limb tension test and shoulder abduction test. (Kang et al., 2020)

Therefore, a positive Spurling’s test, as well as positive findings for traction/neck distraction, and the Valsalva’s manoeuvre might be indicative of a cervical radiculopathy (i.e. given their high specificity), while a negative ULTT might be used to rule it out (i.e. given its high sensitivity). (Rubinstein et al., 2007). However, positive results for two or more simultaneous provocation tests are considered to increase the accuracy of the diagnosis of cervical radiculopathy. (Kang et al., 2020).