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Cervicofacial pain associated with Eagle’s syndrome misdiagnosed as trigeminal neuralgia

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Abstract

Background

Eagle’s syndrome is characterized by the symptoms of recurrent throat pain, pharyngeal foreign body sensation, dysphagia, referred otalgia, and neck pain. The treatment for Eagle´s syndrome can be pharmacologically, surgically, or both. The surgical management consists of two major procedures: the transoral approach or the extraoral–cervical approach.

Case Report

A 64-year-old patient with a severe cervical pain on the left side was evaluated with no defined diagnosis. During physical examination, an elongated styloid process could be palpated and with CT scan image, the Eagle´s syndrome diagnosis was done. The patient was successfully submitted to surgical resection of the elongated styloid process on the left side by an extraoral–cervical approach. After 6 months follow-up, the patient referred no symptom after the surgical treatment.

Conclusion

The extraoral/cervical approach is a safe alternative that achieves adequate treatment of Eagle’s syndrome.

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Conflicts of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Piracicaba Dental School, Campinas State University-Unicamp, Av. Limeira, 901–Caixa Postal 52–Areião, Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil

    Gabriela Mayrink, Evandro Portela Figueiredo, Fabio Ricardo Loureiro Sato & Roger William Fernandes Moreira

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  1. Gabriela Mayrink
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  2. Evandro Portela Figueiredo
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  3. Fabio Ricardo Loureiro Sato
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  4. Roger William Fernandes Moreira
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Correspondence to Roger William Fernandes Moreira.

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Mayrink, G., Figueiredo, E.P., Sato, F.R.L. et al. Cervicofacial pain associated with Eagle’s syndrome misdiagnosed as trigeminal neuralgia. Oral Maxillofac Surg 16, 207–210 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10006-011-0276-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10006-011-0276-7

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