• Jasmeen Kaur, Grigory Ostrovskiy, and Christina Hajicharalambous.
• Department of Emergency Medicine, Hackensack University Medical Center, Hackensack, New Jersey.
• J Emerg Med. 2024 Mar 1; 66 (3): e331e334e331-e334.

BackgroundA cervical radiofrequency ablation is a procedure that can be performed to treat arthritis-related pain in the neck and upper back. There have been no large studies reporting complications after this procedure. We report a case of a 55-year-old woman with iatrogenic vertebral artery dissection of C3-C4 with segmental occlusion leading to a posterior fossa stroke and lateral medullary stroke after a high-grade cervical nerve ablation.Case ReportA 55-year-old woman presented to the Emergency Department with vomiting, neck pain, temperature changes, dizziness, and dysarthria after undergoing C2-C3, C4-C5 nerve ablation 30 min prior to arrival. The patient was found to have a vertebral artery dissection with posterior fossa and lateral medullary stroke. WHY SHOULD AN EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN BE AWARE OF THIS?: Vertebral artery dissection and subsequent stroke should be considered with recent cervical facet joint injections, such as intra-articular facet joint injections, medial branch blocks, or medial branch radiofrequency nerve ablation. The case we report shows devastating outcomes that can result from what many consider a relatively simple procedure.Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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