Cervical Facet Syndrome

Stiff Painful Neck Joint

Pain arising from the cervical zygapophyseal (facet) joints. Accounts for 25-65% of chronic neck pain (depending on study). Most common at C2/3 (headache pattern), C5/6, and C6/7 levels. Diagnosis requires comparative diagnostic medial branch blocks (gold standard): clinical features alone cannot definitively diagnose.

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