Postoperative structured rehabilitation in patients undergoing surgery for cervical radiculopathy: a 2-year follow-up of a randomized controlled trialShow others and affiliations
2019 (English)In: Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine, ISSN 1547-5654, E-ISSN 1547-5646, Vol. 31, no 1, p. 60-69Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
OBJECTIVE Information about postoperative rehabilitation for cervical radiculopathy (CR) is scarce. The aim of this study was to investigate the additional benefits of structured postoperative rehabilitation (SPT), which was performed in all patients, compared with a pragmatic standard postoperative approach (SA), in which rehabilitation was used as needed and patients sought physiotherapy on their own without a referral, in patients with MRI evidence of disc herniation and concomitant clinical signs who underwent surgery for CR. METHODS Patients (n = 202) were randomized to receive SPT or SA. Included key variables in the present study were primary and selected secondary outcomes of a prospective randomized controlled multicenter study. The main outcome was the Neck Disability Index (NDI) score. The NDI score, pain variables, self-efficacy, and health-related quality of life were investigated at baseline and 3, 6, 12, and 24 months postoperatively. RESULTS SPT provided no additional benefits over SA (p = 0.08 to p = 0.99) at the postoperative 2-year follow-up. Both groups improved over time (p amp;lt; 0.0001), with no reported adverse effects. CONCLUSIONS One can conclude that SPT offered no additional benefits over SA; however, patients tolerated postoperative neck exercises without any negative side effects. These findings are important for the development of future active and neck-specific post-operative rehabilitation interventions for patients with CR.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
AMER ASSOC NEUROLOGICAL SURGEONS , 2019. Vol. 31, no 1, p. 60-69
Keywords [en]
cervical radiculopathy; rehabilitation; physical therapy modalities; spine surgery
National Category
Surgery
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-158941DOI: 10.3171/2018.12.SPINE181258ISI: 000473328900009PubMedID: 30901755OAI: oai:DiVA.org:liu-158941DiVA, id: diva2:1338190
Note
Funding Agencies|Swedish government; Swedish county councils; Swedish Research Council; Swedish Society of Medicine; Medical Research Council of Southeast Sweden; Region Ostergotland; Futurum (Academy for Health and Care, Region Jonkoping County); Lions; Wenner-Grens Foundation
2019-07-202019-07-202023-12-28