Operative treatment of the patient with neck pain

Most patients with axial neck pain and cervical radiculopathy can be managed conservatively. Surgical intervention for radiculopathy is considered only when conservative management has failed unless the neurologic deficits are very significant. In cases of myelopathy, surgery may be considered earlier, but if the myelopathy is mild, conservative treatment and close observation are still appropriate. For patients with axial neck pain, surgery is generally not considered except for rare cases caused by single- or two-level degenerative disk disease with severe and unrelenting pain. There are many surgical options for the patients with the degenerative cervical spine, but the indications are different. Surgical intervention involves a complete understanding of the disease process both from physical examination and from radiographic studies. If surgery is undertaken without appropriate clinical correlation, poor results often occur. Although the operative planning is the responsibility of the surgeon. the referring physician should also have some awareness of the basic principles behind the different surgeries.