Incidence and risk factors of dysphagia after cervical laminoplasty

Dysphagia is a known complication following anterior cervical spine surgery, but it has also been reported after laminoplasty. We sought to determine the incidence of dysphagia following cervical laminoplasty. Prospective, multicenter, observational study of patients who underwent cervical laminoplasty or posterior lumbar spinal surgery between April 2022 and May 2024. We measured clinical characteristics, operative data, radiological parameters, and perioperative visual analog scale (VAS) for neck and throat pain. Dysphagia was assessed using the 10-item Eating Assessment Tool preoperatively and 1 week postoperatively, with new-onset dysphagia defined as a worsening of ≧ 3 points from the preoperative score. There were 79 patients in the cervical group and 89 in the lumbar group. The incidence of new-onset dysphagia was significantly higher in the cervical group (10.1%) than in the lumbar group (2.2%, P = 0.046). Within the cervical group, patients who developed new-onset dysphagia had significantly higher VAS scores for postoperative neck pain and throat pain than those without dysphagia. The incidence of new-onset dysphagia after cervical laminoplasty was significantly higher than that in the lumbar group. Patients who developed new-onset dysphagia had significantly greater postoperative neck and throat pain, suggesting that postoperative pain is associated with the development of new-onset dysphagia.