Regional anesthesia and pain medicine
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Aug 2022
Cervical spine ligamentum flavum gaps: MR characterisation and implications for interlaminar epidural injection therapy.
Cervical epidural steroid injections are commonly performed to manage pain from cervical spine disease. Cadaveric studies have demonstrated incomplete ligamentum flavum fusion in the central interlaminar region with resultant midline gaps. We performed an MR-based characterization of cervical ligamentum flavum midline gaps to improve understanding of their prevalence and guide interventionalists in procedural planning. ⋯ Ligamentum flavum gaps occur in the lower cervical spine at high rates, with the highest prevalence of full thickness ligamentum flavum gaps at C7-T1. Interventionists must be aware of these important normal variants and evaluate preprocedural MRI to plan interventions.