Department of Orthopaedics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, United States.
Spectrum Research, Inc., Tacoma, Washington, United States.
Global Spine J. 2016 Feb;6(1):89-96. doi: 10.1055/s-0035-1570460. Epub 2016 Jan 5.
Study Design Systematic review. Clinical Questions Among athletes who undergo surgery of the cervical spine, (1) What proportion return to play (RTP) after their cervical surgery? (2) Does the proportion of those cleared for RTP depend on the type of surgical procedure (artificial disk replacement, fusion, nonfusion foraminotomies/laminoplasties), number of levels (1, 2, or more levels), or type of sport? (3) Among those who return to their presurgery sport, how long do they continue to play? (4) Among those who return to their presurgery sport, how does their postoperative performance compare with their preoperative performance? Objectives To evaluate the extent and quality of published literature on the topic of return to competitive athletic completion after cervical spinal surgery. Methods Electronic databases and reference lists of key articles published up to August 19, 2015, were searched to identify studies reporting the proportion of athletes who RTP after cervical spine surgery. Results Nine observational, retrospective series consisting of 175 patients were included. Seven reported on professional athletes and two on recreational athletes. Seventy-five percent (76/102) of professional athletes returned to their respective sport following surgery for mostly cervical herniated disks. Seventy-six percent of recreational athletes (51/67) age 10 to 42 years RTP in a variety of sports following surgery for mostly herniated disks. No snowboarder returned to snowboarding (0/6) following surgery for cervical fractures. Most professional football players and baseball pitchers returned to their respective sport at their presurgery performance level. Conclusions RTP decisions after cervical spine surgery remain controversial, and there is a paucity of existing literature on this topic. Successful return to competitive sports is well described after single-level anterior cervical diskectomy and fusion surgery for herniated disk. RTP outcomes involving other cervical spine diagnoses and surgical procedures remain unclear. Additional quality research is needed on this topic.
系统回顾。临床问题：在接受颈椎手术的运动员中，（1）手术后有多少人重返运动（RTP）？（2）是否有资格重返运动取决于手术类型（人工椎间盘置换、融合、非融合经椎间孔入路/椎板切除术）、手术节段数（1 个、2 个或更多节段）或运动类型？（3）在那些返回术前运动的人中，他们能继续运动多久？（4）在那些返回术前运动的人中，他们术后的表现与术前相比如何？目的：评估有关颈椎手术后重返竞技体育完成的文献的数量和质量。方法：电子数据库和关键文章的参考文献列表被搜索，以确定报告运动员颈椎手术后重返竞技运动的比例的研究。结果：9 项观察性、回顾性系列研究共纳入 175 例患者。其中 7 项研究报告了职业运动员，2 项研究报告了业余运动员。76%（76/102）的职业运动员在接受颈椎间盘突出症的手术治疗后重返各自的运动项目。76%（51/67）年龄在 10 岁至 42 岁的业余运动员在接受颈椎间盘突出症的手术治疗后重返各种运动项目。没有单板滑雪运动员（0/6）在接受颈椎骨折手术后重返单板滑雪。大多数职业足球运动员和棒球投手在接受手术治疗后，能恢复到术前的运动水平。结论：颈椎手术后的 RTP 决策仍然存在争议，关于这个主题的现有文献很少。对于颈椎间盘突出症的单节段前路颈椎间盘切除术和融合术，成功重返竞技运动得到了很好的描述。涉及其他颈椎诊断和手术的 RTP 结果仍不清楚。这个主题需要更多的高质量研究。
