Pain as the only symptom of cervical artery dissection
PainSci summary of Arnold 2006?This page is one of thousands in the PainScience.com bibliography. It is not a general article: it is focused on a single scientific paper, and it may provide only just enough context for the summary to make sense. Links to other papers and more general information are provided at the bottom of the page, as often as possible. ★★★★☆?4-star ratings are for bigger/better studies and reviews published in more prestigious journals, with only quibbles. Ratings are a highly subjective opinion, and subject to revision at any time. If you think this paper has been incorrectly rated, please let me know.
A study of 245 patients with spontaneous cervical artery dissection found that 20 (8%) of them suffered just one symptom — distinctive pain — even in five who had multiple dissections. It took about a week to diagnose most of them. Only two had neck pain alone, and six had headache alone; twelve had both.
original abstract†Abstracts here may not perfectly match originals, for a variety of technical and practical reasons. Some abstacts are truncated for my purposes here, if they are particularly long-winded and unhelpful. I occasionally add clarifying notes. And I make some minor corrections.
BACKGROUND: Headache or neck pain is a frequent symptom of spontaneous cervical artery dissection (sCAD).
PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients were drawn from an ongoing hospital-based registry of consecutive cases diagnosed with sCAD. Only patients with isolated pain were included in this series. Pain topography, dynamics, severity and quality, imaging findings and outcome were analysed.
RESULTS: 20 of 245 (8%) patients with sCAD presented with pain as the only symptom (mean (SD) age 39 (8) years; 14 (70%) women). Of them, 12 had vertebral artery dissection, 3 had internal carotid dissection and 5 had multiple dissections. The median delay from symptom onset to diagnosis was 7 days (range 4 h to 29 days). 6 patients presented with headache, 2 with neck pain and 12 with both. Onset of headache was progressive in 6, acute in 8 and thunderclap-type in 4 patients; neck pain was progressive in 7 and acute in 7. Headache was throbbing in 13 and constrictive in 5 patients; neck pain was throbbing in 4 and constrictive in 10. Pain was unilateral in 11 and bilateral in 9. Pain was different from earlier episodes in all but one case. All patients were pain free at 3 months.
CONCLUSION: Pain may be the only symptom in sCAD, even when multiple arteries are dissected. Pain topography, dynamics, quality and intensity were heterogeneous. Data from this study lend support to recommendations favouring imaging studies of the cervical arteries in patients with new-onset unexplained headache or neck pain.
related content
- “Spontaneous cervicocephalic arterial dissection with headache and neck pain as the only symptom,” an article in J Headache Pain, 2012.
- “Cervical arterial dysfunction: knowledge and reasoning for manual physical therapists,” an article in Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy, 2009.
These five articles on PainScience.com cite Arnold 2006 as a source:
- PS Complete Guide to Tension Headaches — Detailed, readable self-help for stubborn tension headaches, especially due to muscle pain in the neck and shoulders
- PS Save Yourself from Neck Pain! — A complete guide to chronic neck pain and the disturbing sensation of a “crick”
- PS What Happened To My Barber? — Either atlantoaxial instability or vertebrobasilar insufficiency causes severe dizziness and vomiting after massage therapy, with lessons for health care consumers
- PS Does Spinal Manipulation Work? — Spinal manipulation, adjustment, and popping of the spinal joints and the subluxation theory of disease, back pain and neck pain
- PS When to Worry About Neck Pain…and when not to! — Tips, checklists, and non-scary possible explanations for neck pain
