Pre- and Intraoperative Factors Associated With Improvement of Neck Pain After Laminoplasty for the Treatment of Cervical Myelopathy.

STUDY DESIGN

Retrospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVE

To (1) determine whether preoperative neck pain improves after laminoplasty for cervical myelopathy and identify factors that could predict improvements in neck pain.

METHODS

A total of 88 patients with preoperative neck pain visual analogue scale (VAS) of ≥4, who underwent laminoplasty for cervical myelopathy, and were followed-up for >2 years were retrospectively reviewed. Patients demonstrating ≥50% improvement in VAS scores for neck pain 2 years postoperatively compared toㅇ preoperative assessment were included in neck pain improved (NP-improved) group. The remaining patients were assigned to neck pain unimproved (NP-unimproved) group.

RESULTS

Overall, 54 patients (61.4%) were included in NP-improved group and 34 patients (38.6%) were included in NP-unimproved group. NP-unimproved group more frequently underwent C3 laminectomy ( = 0.026) and had lesser degree of preoperative C2-C7 lordosis ( = 0.006) in the extension position compared to that in the NP-improved group. Furthermore, undergoing C3 laminectomy was associated with lower probability of achieving a ≥50% improvement in neck pain VAS scores ( = 0.018), while greater preoperative C2-C7 lordosis in the extension position was associated with a higher possibility of neck pain improvement ( = 0.048). A cut-off value of 20.5° for C2-C7 lordosis in the extension position predicted a ≥50% improvement in neck pain.

CONCLUSION

Preoperative neck pain should not be considered contraindication for laminoplasty as 61.4% of patients experienced ≥50% improvement in neck pain post-operatively. C3 laminectomy decreases the probability of neck pain improvement after laminoplasty, while greater C2-C7 lordosis in the extension position is associated with neck pain improvement.