Patterns of cervical zygapophyseal joint pain

The aim of this study was to establish the patterns of referred pain from the cervical zygapophyseal joints (C0/1-C7/Th1) in a large number of patients with cervical zygapophyseal pain. The subjects were 54 patients with suspected cervical zygapophyseal pain in whom pain was relieved by zygapophyseal joint block and reproduced by injection of contrast medium. Under fluoroscopic control, the zygapophyseal joints from C0/1 to C7/Th1 were stimulated by the injection of contrast medium. If injection reproduced the patient's usual pain, the patient was asked to describe the distribution of the referred pain and it was charted on a body diagram. Each joint had a characteristic distribution of referred pain. Tentative composite pain distribution maps of the zygapophyseal joints from C0/1 to C7/Th1 were constructed.