Skip to main content

Thoracic Radiculopathy

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Musculoskeletal Sports and Spine Disorders

Abstract

Spinal pathology (disc herniation, degenerative changes, stenosis, and osteophytes), in addition to diabetes and trauma, is the most frequent cause of thoracic radiculopathy. Pain is a common symptom and is usually reported in the upper back, chest, or abdomen, while sensory deficits such as paresthesias may also be present. Serious cardiac, abdominal, and spinal cord conditions, such as ischemic disease or myelopathy, need to be ruled out before starting treatment. Electrodiagnostic studies and magnetic resonance imaging help to confirm the diagnosis when radiculopathy is suspected. If conservative treatment with pain medication and physical therapy fails, procedures such as steroid injections and spinal surgery should be considered.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Vanichkachorn JS, Vaccaro AR. Thoracic disk disease: diagnosis and treatment. J Am Acad Orthop Surg. 2000;8:159–69.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. O’Connor RC, Andary MT, Russo RB, DeLano M. Thoracic radiculopathy. Phys Med Rehabil Clin N Am August 2002; 13(3): 623–644

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Kikta DG, Breuer AC, Wilbourn AJ. Thoracic root pain in diabetes: the spectrum of clinical and electromyographic findings. Ann Neurol. 1982;11:80–5.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Johnson ER, Powell J, Caldwell J, Crane C. Intercostal nerve conduction and posterior rhizotomy in the diagnosis and treatment of thoracic radiculopathy. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1974;37:330–2.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Derby R, Chen Y, Lee S-H, Sik Seo K, Kim B-J. Non-surgical interventional treatment of cervical and thoracic radiculopathies. Pain Physician. 2004;7:389–94.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Chaudhuri KR, Wren DR, Werring D, Watkins PJ. Unilateral abdominal muscle herniation with pain: a distinctive variant of diabetic radiculopathy. Diabet Med. 1997;14:803–7.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Benyamin RM, Wang VC, Vallejo R, Singh V, Helm II SA. Systematic evaluation of thoracic interlaminar epidural injections. Pain Physician. 2012;15:E497–514.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Haufe SMW, Mork AR, Pyne M, Baker RA. Percutaneous laser disc decompression for thoracic disc disease: report of 10 cases. Int J Med Sci. 2010;7(3):155–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Haufe SMW, Baker RA, Pyne ML. Endoscopic thoracic laminoforaminoplasty for the treatment of thoracic radiculopathy: report of 12 cases. Int J Med Sci. 2009;6(4):224–6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dimir Abrar MD .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Abrar, D., Elbayar, J., Kao, D., Khan, F. (2017). Thoracic Radiculopathy. In: Kahn, S., Xu, R. (eds) Musculoskeletal Sports and Spine Disorders. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50512-1_86

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50512-1_86

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-50510-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-50512-1

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics