This case report describes a patient with chronic neck pain and concurrent vestibular symptoms (dizziness, vertigo, tinnitus, and nausea) whose symptoms improved following cervical medial branch radiofrequency neurotomy. While radiofrequency neurotomy is an established treatment for cervical zygapophyseal joint-mediated pain, this case illustrates a temporal association between treatment of cervical pain and...
No actionable change for audiologists based on a single case report; cervicogenic vestibular symptoms remain a poorly evidenced concept and this finding requires replication in controlled studies before influencing clinical pathways.
If cervicogenic mechanisms can reproducibly explain a subset of vestibular and tinnitus presentations, it could open interdisciplinary referral pathways between audiology and interventional pain medicine.
- 01Single case report of dizziness, vertigo, and tinnitus resolving after cervical medial branch radiofrequency neurotomy.
- 02Findings suggest a possible cervicogenic (neck-related) mechanism for some vestibular symptoms.
- 03Evidence is extremely limited — N=1, no control, no blinding.
- 04Cervicogenic dizziness remains a controversial diagnosis without strong consensus criteria.
- 05Replication in larger, controlled studies is necessary before clinical application.
Cervical medial branch radiofrequency neurotomy can resolve vestibular symptoms including dizziness, vertigo, and tinnitus.
studyunsupportedSome vestibular symptoms have a cervicogenic (neck-related) mechanism.
opinionunclear- PMID
- 42112571
- DOI
- 10.1080/17581869.2026.2672490.
- Journal
- Pain Management
- Publication type
- case_report
- Evidence level
- 4
- Sample size
- 1
- Population
- Single patient with vestibular symptoms (dizziness, vertigo, tinnitus) of suspected cervicogenic origin
- Intervention
- Cervical medial branch radiofrequency neurotomy
Primary outcomes
Resolution of vestibular symptoms (dizziness, vertigo, tinnitus)