Subjective postoperative results in cervical spondylotic myelopathy

A retrospective study of operative results after a minimum follow-up period of five years was carried out in a series of 34 patients operated upon for cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM). In all the cases, myelography showed involvement of two or more intervertebral spaces. Constitutional spinal cord narrowing was not present, and only one operation was performed in each patient. Of the 34 patients, 16 also had symptoms of cervical spondylotic radiculopathy (CSR). Seventy-four percent of the patients thought that operation resulted in overall improvement of the preoperative clinical picture. This subjective improvement was similar whether the operative procedure consisted of anterior intersomatic fusion or of laminectomy. Amelioration of CSM symptoms occurred in only 8 of the 20 patients subjected to anterior fusion (40%), in contrast to 10 of the 14 patients subjected to laminectomy (71%). In the 16 patients with CSR symptoms associated with CSM, amelioration of CSR symptoms occurred in 6 of the 11 patients subjected to anterior fusion (55%), and in 4 of the 5 patients subjected to laminectomy 80%). It is suggested that laminectomy offers the best results for CSM, associated or not with CSR, when two or more intervertebral spaces are affected.