Table 1 Left: criteria for positive diagnosis of ES20–22; Right: differential diagnosis of ES1
From: Chronic oropharyngeal pain and medical nomadism in an Eagle’s syndrome patient: a case report
Positive diagnosis | Differential diagnosis | |
|---|---|---|
Medical history and clinical manifestations evocating one of two principal forms of ES: the classical or carotid form | Neuralgia | Glossopharyngeal neuralgia Superior laryngeal neuralgia Occipital neuralgia Sphenopalatine neuralgia Nervus intermedius neuralgia |
A positive sign by digital palpation of the tonsillar fossa | Cephalalgia | Migraine Cervicogenic headache Carotidynia |
Intratonsillar infiltration of local anesthesia (1 ml of 2% lidocaine) leads to complete pain relief | Oromandibular disorders | Temporomandibular joint disorders Unerupted or distorted third molar Faulty dental prostheses Sialolithiasis |
Radiological checking by CBCT reveals SP elongation (> 2.5 cm) and/or its angulations | Ear–nose–throat diseases | Chronic tonsillitis Tonsillar calculi Otitis Mastoiditis Fracture of the hyoid bone Spasm of the pharyngeal Constrictor muscle Ernest syndrome Pterygoid hamulus bursitis Elongated pterygoid uncinus |
Others | Psychosomatic diseases Foreign bodies Inflammatory and neoplastic Processes in the oropharyngeal and esophageal areas Nuchal cellulitis and fibrositis Neck–tongue syndrome | |