Do Inflammatory Cytokines Affect Patient Outcomes After ACDF?

Area of Science:

• Spine surgery
• Inflammatory markers
• Cervical spondylosis

Background:

• Inflammatory processes are implicated in spinal degenerative diseases.
• Inflammatory markers are hypothesized to predict surgical outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the relationship between serum inflammatory mediators, disease severity, and outcomes after ACDF.
• To assess the predictive value of inflammatory markers for ACDF success.

Main Methods:

• Prospective cohort study of 77 patients undergoing ACDF for cervical spondylosis.
• Measured preoperative serum inflammatory markers (IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α, HMGB1, WBCs).
• Correlated markers with demographics, symptoms, and 1-year PROMs (NDI, VAS, SF-12 PCS/MCS).

Main Results:

• Weak correlations observed between IL-6 and TNF-α (ρ=0.479).
• HMGB1 weakly correlated with symptom duration (<1 year) and preoperative PCS/NDI.
• WBCs weakly correlated with preoperative NDI and MCS.
• IL-6 weakly correlated with postoperative MCS improvement.

Conclusions:

• Preoperative cytokine levels showed minimal correlation with preoperative symptoms or clinical improvement.
• Profiling of patient cytokines has limited utility in predicting outcomes after ACDF.