What are the symptoms of nerve root compression?
Symptoms of nerve compression (also known as radiculopathy) include: • Pain • Aching or stiffness • Numbness • Tingling sensations • Weakness in the arm(s) and/or hand(s). What are the alternatives to a cervical foraminotomy? A number of alternatives may exist, depending upon your individual circumstances. These include: • Pain medications. A number of medications may be useful for pain. These include the standard opioid and non-opioid analgesic agents, membrane stabilising agents and anticonvulsants, as well as the most recent agent to be released- Pregabalin. Special medical treatments such as Ketamine infusions may be appropriate in some situations. • Nerve sheath injections. Local anaesthetic may be injected through the skin of the neck, under CT scan guidance, around the compressed nerve. This is also known as a ‘foraminal block’. Patients frequently obtain a significant benefit from this procedure, and surgery can sometimes be delayed or even avoided. Unfortunately, the benefit o
