%0 Journal Article
%T Functional Outcomes of Surgery in Cervical Spondylotic Radiculopathy versus Myelopathy: A Comparative Study
%A F. Omidi-Kashani
%A E. G. Hasankhani
%A M. F. Vavsari
%A S. Afsari
%A F. Golhasani-Keshtan
%J Neuroscience Journal
%D 2013
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2013/293806
%X Background. Cervical spondylosis can cause three different categories of symptoms and signs with possible overlap in the affected patients. Aim. We aim to compare functional outcome of surgery in the patients with cervical spondylotic radiculopathy and myelopathy, regardless of their surgical type and approach. Materials and Methods. We retrospectively reviewed 140 patients with cervical spondylotic radiculopathy and myelopathy who had been operated from August 2006 to January 2011, as Group A (68 cases) and Group B (72 cases), respectively. The mean age was 48.2 and 55.7 years, while the mean followup was 38.9 and 37.3 months, respectively. Functional outcome of the patients was assessed by neck disability index (NDI) and patient satisfaction with surgery. Results. Only in Group A, the longer delay caused a worse surgical outcome (NDI). In addition, in Group B, there was no significant relationship between imaging signal change of the spinal cord and our surgical outcomes. Improvement in NDI and final satisfaction rate in both groups are comparable. Conclusions. Surgery was associated with an improvement in NDI in both groups ( ). The functional results in both groups were similar and comparable, regarding this index and patient's satisfaction score. 1. Introduction Spondylosis is the most common cause of neural compression in cervical spine [1]. The disease can cause three different categories of symptoms and signs with possible overlap in the affected patients [2, 3]. These patients may complain of the neck (pain, stiffness, and limited range of motion) or suffer from radiculopathy or even myelopathy [4]. Neurologic symptoms are usually aroused when the space available for the neural elements is reduced by osteophytes, hypertrophied ligamentum flavum, or a herniated disc [4]. In those patients whose main manifestation of the disease is neck complains, conservative treatment is usually recommended, while in some with cervical spondylotic radiculopathy (CSR) or myelopathy (CSM), surgery may be associated with better satisfactory outcomes [5¨C7]. Although, some authors still have doubts about the long-term results of surgery in these cases [2, 8]. The poor prognostic factors usually quoted in the surgical treatment of the patients include older age, abnormal cervical curvature, multisegmental compression, more duration of symptoms, higher number of comorbidities, decreased signal intensity on T1-weighted images, increased signal intensity on T2-weighted images, and existence of cord atrophy in preoperative magnetic resonance images (MRIs) [1, 5, 6,
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/neuroscience/2013/293806/