Observational studyActa neurochirurgica2025
A nationwide registry study of surgical and patient-reported outcomes following anterior cervical discectomy and fusion: Part 2 - cage with versus without local bone graft.
Observational study in Acta neurochirurgica, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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.
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.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Swespine in the literature: a bibliometric analysis of trends and characteristics of publications.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 · 2026Review
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundLocal bone grafts are commonly used as filling material in cages during anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF). Alternatively, cages without filling materials can be used. The literature comparing these approaches is limited, and their respective effects on patient-reported outcomes (PROM) have been scarcely studied. This study was conducted to compare surgical outcomes and PROMs between local bone graft-packed cages and empty cages in ACDF surgery.
methodsThis observational study utilized data from the Swedish nationwide registry, Swespine. All adults who underwent ACDF between 2006 and 2020 were considered for inclusion. Exclusion criteria included missing baseline or outcome data. Patients were grouped according to cage type (with vs. without local bone graft). The primary outcome was achievement of a minimal clinically important difference (MCID) for arm pain in radiculopathy patients and for the European Myelopathy Score (EMS) in myelopathy patients. Secondary outcomes included complications, reoperations, and length of hospital stay. Outcomes were analyzed using multivariable generalized linear models adjusted for clinically relevant covariates.
resultsA total of 6,571 patients were included, with 2,963 patients (45%) receiving cages with local bone graft and 3,608 patients (55%) receiving cages without local bone graft during ACDF. Achievement of MCID for arm pain (radiculopathy) (OR 0.90, 95% CI 0.79-1.04, p = 0.15) and for EMS (myelopathy) (OR 1.15, 95% CI 0.67-2.03, p = 0.62) did not differ between groups. Local bone graft use was associated with higher odds of reoperation (OR 1.69, 95% CI 1.20-2.39, p = 0.003) and a longer hospital stay (β = 0.31 days, 95% CI 0.21-0.40, p < 0.001).
conclusionThis nationwide registry-based study demonstrates that ACDF performed with or without local bone graft is equally safe and effective, with comparable rates of PROM MCID achievement and similar adverse event profiles, although use of local bone graft was associated with higher reoperations and longer hospital stays.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.