Clinical Outcomes Following Cervical Deformity Correction.

Area of Science:

• Neurosurgery
• Orthopedic Surgery
• Spinal Deformity Correction

Background:

• Adult cervical spinal deformity (CSD) presents complex challenges in surgical management.
• Significant advancements have occurred in surgical techniques and outcome prediction over the past ten years.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review progress in clinical outcomes for adult cervical spinal deformity surgery.
• To highlight key developments in radiographic alignment, risk stratification, surgical techniques, and long-term results.

Main Methods:

• Narrative review of literature over the past decade.
• Focus on four key domains: radiographic alignment, preoperative risk stratification, surgical techniques, and long-term operative outcomes.

Main Results:

• A predominant trend towards patient-specific approaches in addressing cervical deformity.
• Improvements in achieving radiographic alignment targets and refining surgical techniques.

Conclusions:

• The patient-specific approach is central to current and future advancements in CSD surgery.
• Future directions include enhanced preoperative optimization, patient-specific biomechanical modeling (e.g., digital twins), and AI for outcome prediction.