In clinical practice,
neck pain is one of the most common complaints. Although most of the cervical radicular
pain is manifested in the neck and upper extremities, C3 or C4 radicular
pain only results in
neck pain. It does not produce upper extremity
radiating pain. This case report describes a 70-year-old male that presented with a numeric rating scale score of 5 out of 10 for the left
neck pain that he had been experiencing for the previous 1 month.
Hyperalgesia was present on the left C3 dermatome. Foraminal
stenosis at the left C2-C3 was observed on cervical magnetic resonance imaging. In order to manage the
neck pain on the left side due to the foraminal
stenosis at the left C2-C3, a transforaminal epidural
steroid injection (TFESI) was undertaken on the left C3 nerve root. Thirty minutes after TFESI, the patient's
neck pain had completely resolved. At the 1-month and 3-month follow-ups, no
neck pain was evident. Clinicians should consider the possibility of C3 radicular
pain as a cause of
neck pain, especially when the
neck pain presents as
neuropathic pain combined with sensory deficits.