Trial reportBMC musculoskeletal disorders2023
A more than 20-year follow-up of pain and disability after anterior cervical decompression and fusion surgery for degenerative disc disease and comparisons between two surgical techniques.
Trial report in BMC musculoskeletal disorders, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
What it found
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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.
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.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.
- Trends of opioid use following anterior cervical discectomy and fusion: A 10-year longitudinal study of the Veterans Health Administration.North American Spine Society journal · 2025Article
- Article
- Clinical Outcomes of Integrative Korean Medicine Treatment in Patients with Neck Pain Following Cervical Disc Surgery: A Multi-Center Retrospective Study.Journal of pain research · 2025Article
- Contiguous versus skip discectomy and fusion in cervical disc herniation: Do we need to fuse the normal intermediate segment?Journal of craniovertebral junction & spineArticle
- Depression and psychotic disorders worsen perioperative outcomes and increase resource utilization after multilevel lumbar fusion: Implications for screening and perioperative care.Journal of craniovertebral junction & spineArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundFollow-ups more than 20 years after neck surgery are extremely rare. No previous randomized studies have investigated differences in pain and disability more than 20 years after ACDF surgery using different techniques. The purpose of this study was to describe pain and functioning more than 20 years after anterior cervical decompression and fusion surgery, and to compare outcomes between the Cloward Procedure and the carbon fiber fusion cage (CIFC).
methodsThis study is a 20 to 24-year follow-up of a randomized controlled trial. Questionnaires were sent to 64 individuals, at least 20 years after ACDF due to cervical radiculopathy. Fifty individuals (mean age 69, 60% women, 55% CIFC) completed questionnaires. Mean time since surgery was 22.4 years (range 20,5-24). Primary outcomes were neck pain and neck disability index (NDI). Secondary outcomes were frequency and intensity of neck and arm pain, headache, dizziness, self-efficacy, health related quality of life or global outcome. Clinically relevant improvements were defined as 30 mm decrease in pain and a decrease in disability of 20 percentage units. Between-group differences over time were analyzed with mixed design ANOVA and relationships between main outcomes and psychosocial factors were analyzed by Spearman´s rho.
resultsNeck pain and NDI score significantly improved over time (p < .001), with no group differences in primary or secondary outcomes. Eighty-eight per cent of participants experienced improvements or full recovery, 71% (pain) and 41% (NDI) had clinically relevant improvements. Pain and NDI were correlated with lower self-efficacy and quality of life.
conclusionThe results from this study do not support the idea that fusion technique affects long-term outcome of ACDF. Pain and disability improved substantially over time, irrespective of surgical technique. However, the majority of participants reported residual disability not to a negligible extent. Pain and disability were correlated to lower self-efficacy and quality of life.
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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.