What are the examination methods of cervical spondylosis?

In the clinical examination of cervical spondylosis, we mainly rely on X-ray and MRI of cervical vertebra, which are the most commonly used examinations.

X-rays can help us to see whether the physiological curvature of the cervical spine is unstable or not. The MRI examination of cervical spine can help us to see many aspects, such as the stage of nerve compression, the severity of compression, and the presence or absence of vertebral artery stenosis.

Clinically, cervical MRI is the first choice for clinical diagnosis of cervical spondylosis, because it has high resolution on muscles, soft tissues and nerves, which allows us to quickly identify the position and degree of its protruding intervertebral disc. Of course, some neck tumors can also be excluded by MRI.

Cervical Ct examination is rare in clinic. Only the patients before operation need to know whether the protruding tissue is calcified and whether the posterior longitudinal ligament is calcified. These calcifications have an influence on the judgment of operation and the choice of operation scheme, so we usually only do cervical ct examination before operation.

To sum up, the commonly used examinations for the diagnosis of cervical spondylosis are X-ray, MRI and ct of cervical vertebra.