Red flags are signs & symptoms that might indicate serious pathology. In the cervical spine, following specific red flags will have to be excluded first, before you can continue with your patient history taking:
| Red Flag | Signs & Symptoms |
| Fractures | Older age, (prolonged) use of corticosteroids, trauma in history, osteoporosis |
| Cervical Artery Dysfunction (CAD) | Dizziness, diplopia, malaise, vomiting, extremity weakness, papillary changes |
| Spinal Cord Symptoms or Cervical Myelopathy | Neurological symptoms, wide-spread neurological signs in both arms and/or legs such as changes of sensibility or weakness in legs+arms, bowel and bladder dysfunction |
| Infection (including urinary tract infections and skin infections) | Signs and symptoms of infection (Fever, nocturnal sweating) other risk factors for infections (e.g. underlying disease, immunosuppressives, open wounds, intravenous drug use, exposure to contagious diseases) |
| Malignant tumors | Cancer in history, no improvement of complaints after treatment of four weeks, unexplained weight loss, >50 years of age, problems with swallowing, headache, vomiting |
| Systemic diseases (herpes zoster, ankylosing spondylitis, inflammatory arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis) | Headache, fever, one-sided skin rash, burning pain, itch |
| Study | |||||
| KNGF (2016) | |||||
| Comment: This guideline is only available in Dutch at the moment. | |||||
