Acute low cervical nerve root conditions: symptom presentations and pathobiological reasoning.

Acute low cervical nerve root conditions may be easily misdiagnosed. The perspective presented is that their symptom presentation is not as straightforward as the classic descriptions of brachialgia would have us believe. This clinical commentary presents a series of observations and reasoning models that are relevant to patient symptom presentations believed to be of cervical nerve root origin. Clinicians are urged to consider low cervical nerve root assessment in the light of our current understanding of neural sensitivity, pain science, nerve root biomechanics and the presence and effect of degenerative changes. This particularly relates to thoughts about cervical movements and postures being able to bring forces to bear on nerve roots via compressive as well as elongation forces. Copyright 2001 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.