Case Report: Nonsurgical management of painless cervical motor radiculopathy.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Painless motor radiculopathy is a rare clinical entity, accounting for approximately 5%-8% of cervical radiculopathy cases. While current guidelines recommend early surgical intervention for patients with severe motor deficits, the efficacy of nonsurgical management remains unclear.

Case presentation

We present a case of a 67-year-old man with sudden onset of right shoulder motor paralysis [Medical Research Council (MRC) grade 3-] without pain. MRI revealed multilevel foraminal stenosis at C5-C7-T1 and central disc protrusion at C4-5, without cord compression. The patient elected nonsurgical management and received four epidural steroid injections (two interlaminar and two transforaminal) over five weeks. Motor function progressively improved, reaching MRC grade 5

SUBMITTER: Lee YH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12675324 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature