Abstract
We report a patient with cervical spondylotic myelopathy whose pain was confused with whip-lash injury. Pain in the neck, shoulder, arm, lateral chest, and lower extremity on the left side developed in a 66-year-old man 1 month after a traffic accident that occurred 15 years before his referral to our department. The pain gradually worsened. He saw doctors, who thought that the pain was caused by whiplash injury after the traffic accident. The precise initial history taking and physical examination revealed that pain and hypoesthesia were in the neck, shoulder, arm, and lateral chest on the left side, without impairment of muscular strength of the upper and lower limbs. However, the patellar reflex was exaggerated on both sides. MRI of the neck showed narrowed cervical canal at C3/4-6/7. The pain decreased after oral administration of Japanese herbal medicine and repeated brachial plexus blocks. Onset of pain 1 month after the traffic accident and the subtle symptoms of cervical spondylotic myelopathy in this patient seemed to make the diagnosis difficult.
