Abstract

This report aims to alert clinicians to the importance of comprehensive evaluation starting with collecting the details of patient’s history. This case also highlights the need to prioritize interventions starting with conservative treatments based on severity and urgency. We report a case of cervicalgia and bilateral cervical radiculopathy of 62 years old female who did not respond to conservative physical therapy treatment. The specialist used total assessment- reassessment and evaluation using biokinesiology (TAREK) approach for clinical reasoning and judgment to come up with tentative physical therapy diagnoses. The manifestations were confirmed by magnetic resonance imaging report. The clinical manifestations were in harmony with the radiological findings. The patient was poorly responding to conservative treatment with many weeks of no response. Surgery was offered to ease up patient’s symptoms. Finally, clinicians should be familiar with the both the primary and the secondary pathological changes of cervical radiculopathy and put in consideration the complexity of clinical manifestations and poor prognosis.

Key words:

cervical canal stenosis, cervical radiculopathy, laminectomy, physical therapy, spine tuberculosis