Office evaluation of spine and limb pain: spondylotic radiculopathy and other nonstructural mimickers

Low back and neck pain, with or without radiculopathy, are one of the most common reasons for referral to an outpatient neurology practice. Determining appropriate treatment relies on establishing an accurate diagnosis of the etiology of the spine or limb pain. The author reviews structural radiculopathies as a result of diskogenic and spondylotic etiologies with an emphasis on the clinical approach and evaluation of these patients (including imaging and electrodiagnostics), identifying management altering neurogenic mimickers of structural radiculopathies (such as infectious, inflammatory, and neoplastic myeloradiculitis and radiculoplexopathies), and stratifying patients for treatment.