Department of Anatomy, Medical School, University of Thessalia, Neofytoy 9 St., 41223, Larissa, Greece.
Eur Spine J. 2013 May;22 Suppl 3(Suppl 3):S434-8. doi: 10.1007/s00586-012-2584-5. Epub 2012 Nov 21.
Acute calcific tendinitis of the longus colli muscle (or retropharyngeal tendinitis) is an aseptic inflammatory process characterized by acute posterior neck pain, neck stiffness and dysphagia or odynophagia. Awareness of its existence is crucial in the differential diagnosis, because many other conditions, such as retropharyngeal abscess, meningitis or disc herniation, show similar clinical features. We present a case exhibiting an uncommon symptom (torticollis) and a brief literature review to emphasize the risk of misdiagnosis.
A 36-year-old woman presented with neck stiffness and torticollis accompanied by dysphagia and prevertebral space sensitivity on the second day.
The diagnosis was established by computed tomography (CT), the gold standard for identifying the presence of prevertebral oedema and calcific deposition associated with retropharyngeal tendinitis. Treatment with NSAIDs and low doses of corticosteroids relieved the symptoms within 48 h.
Retropharyngeal tendinitis is an underreported entity in the literature and orthopaedists should become aware of its existence. Misdiagnosis of this important mimicker may lead to unnecessary antibiotics administration and interventions in the retropharyngeal space.
长颈肌（或咽后肌腱炎）急性钙化性肌腱炎是一种无菌性炎症过程，其特征为急性颈后疼痛、颈僵硬和吞咽困难或吞咽疼痛。认识到其存在对于鉴别诊断至关重要，因为许多其他疾病，如咽后脓肿、脑膜炎或椎间盘突出，具有相似的临床特征。我们报告一例表现出不常见症状（斜颈）的病例，并进行简短的文献复习，以强调误诊的风险。
一名 36 岁女性在第二天出现颈僵硬和斜颈，伴有吞咽困难和椎体前间隙敏感。
通过计算机断层扫描（CT）诊断，CT 是识别与咽后肌腱炎相关的椎体前水肿和钙化沉积的金标准。非甾体抗炎药和小剂量皮质类固醇治疗在 48 小时内缓解了症状。
咽后肌腱炎在文献中报道较少，矫形外科医生应该意识到其存在。误诊为这种重要的模拟物可能导致不必要的抗生素治疗和咽后空间干预。
