Woman Suffers Neck Injuries in Car Crash

As a result of the accident, plaintiff has subjective complaints of cervical pain, decreased cervical range of motion and right upper extremity paresthesias. She had underlying cervical spondylitic disease that was aggravated by the accident. She also has developed some anxiety problems (i.e. when riding in or driving a car) since the accident. She has mostly subjective abnormalities on her examination with only minimal objective findings. In addition there is evidence of symptom magnification that raises questions about the subjective complaints and findings.

Plaintiff had some improvement in her cervical range of motion with physical therapy, but has not has any formal treatment for the past two years. Her symptoms have remained stable over the past two years. She has subjective complaints of cervical pain and right upper extremity paresthesias. She has decreased range of motion of the cervical spine secondary to underlying cervical spondylitic disease. Her complaints of pain have forced her to take frequent breaks during the day while working, but has not prevented her from doing her job.

I would recommend an EMG/NCS study and cervical spine x-rays. If the EMG/NCS shows a cervical radiculopathy, she may also need a cervical myelogram/CT scan. However, at the present time, without these additional studies I do not feel there is enough diagnostic information to recommend any surgery.