Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31641906›Full record

SynthesisEuropean spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society2020

Cervical radiculopathy: is a prosthesis preferred over fusion surgery? A systematic review.

Caroline M W Goedmakers, Tessa Janssen, Xiaoyu Yang, Mark P Arts, Ronald H M A Bartels, Carmen L A Vleggeert-Lankamp

Open access · hybridAbstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
2.7field-weighted citation impact, top 10% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 17 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Caroline M W GoedmakersDepartment of Neurosurgery, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, Stafsecretariaat Neurochirurgie, Postzone J11-R-83, Postbus 9600, 2300 RC, Leiden, The Netherlands. C.M.W.Goedmakers@lumc.nl.ORCID 0000-0002-1575-7976
Tessa JanssenDepartment of Neurosurgery, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, Stafsecretariaat Neurochirurgie, Postzone J11-R-83, Postbus 9600, 2300 RC, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Xiaoyu YangDepartment of Neurosurgery, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, Stafsecretariaat Neurochirurgie, Postzone J11-R-83, Postbus 9600, 2300 RC, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Mark P ArtsDepartment of Neurosurgery, The Hague Medical Centre, The Hague, Afdeling Neurochirurgie, Postbus 432, 2501 CK, Den Haag, The Netherlands.
Ronald H M A BartelsDepartment of Neurosurgery, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen Afdeling Neurochirurgie, Huispostnummer 943, Prof. R.H.M.A. Bartels, Postbus 9101, 6500 HB, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Carmen L A Vleggeert-LankampDepartment of Neurosurgery, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, Stafsecretariaat Neurochirurgie, Postzone J11-R-83, Postbus 9600, 2300 RC, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Leiden University · NLMedisch Centrum Haaglanden · NLRadboud University Nijmegen · NL

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMeta-analyses on the comparison between fusion and prosthesis in the treatment of cervical radiculopathy mainly analyse studies including mixed patient populations: patients with radiculopathy with and without myelopathy. The outcome for patients with myelopathy is different compared to those without. Furthermore, apart from decompression of the spinal cord, restriction of motion is one of the cornerstones of the surgical treatment of spondylotic myelopathy. From this point of view, the results for arthroplasty might be suboptimal for this category of patients. Comparing clinical outcome in patients exclusively suffering from radiculopathy is therefore a more valid method to compare the true clinical effect of the prosthesis to that of fusion surgery.

aimThe objective of this study was to compare clinical outcome of cervical arthroplasty (ACDA) to the clinical outcome of fusion (ACDF) after anterior cervical discectomy in patients exclusively suffering from radiculopathy, and to evaluate differences with mixed patient populations.

methodsA literature search was completed in PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, COCHRANE, CENTRAL and CINAHL using a sensitive search strategy. Studies were selected by predefined selection criteria (i.a.) patients exclusively suffering from cervical radiculopathy), and risk of bias was assessed using a validated Cochrane Checklist adjusted for this purpose. An additional overview of results was added from articles considering a mix of patients suffering from myelopathy with or without radiculopathy.

resultsEight studies were included that exclusively compared intervertebral devices in radiculopathy patients. Additionally, 29 articles concerning patients with myelopathy with or without radiculopathy were studied in a separate results table. All articles showed intermediate to high risk of bias. There was neither a difference in decrease in mean NDI score between the prosthesis (20.6 points) and the fusion (20.3 points) group, nor was there a clinically important difference in neck pain (VAS). Comparing these data to the mixed population data demonstrated comparable mean values, except for the 2-year follow-up NDI values in the prosthesis group: mixed group patients that received a prosthesis reported a mean NDI score of 15.6, indicating better clinical outcome than the radiculopathy patients that received a prosthesis though not reaching clinical importance.

conclusionsACDF and ACDA are comparably effective in treating cervical radiculopathy due to a herniated disc in radiculopathy patients. Comparing the 8 radiculopathy with the 29 mixed population studies demonstrated that no clinically relevant differences were present in clinical outcome between the two types of patients. These slides can be retrieved under Electronic Supplementary Material.

Indexed as

RadiculopathySpinal FusionCervical VertebraeDiskectomyHumansProstheses and ImplantsTreatment OutcomeAnterior cervical discectomy fusionCervical spineClinical outcomeNeck Disability IndexTotal disc replacementVisual Analogue Scale

Identifiers

PMID31641906
OpenAlexW2981810154

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.