ArticleEuropean spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society2026
The impact of operative level on reoperation rates and short-term patient-reported outcomes in 3-level anterior cervical discectomy and fusion.
Article 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, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
25 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeTo examine whether clinical outcomes and patient-reported outcomes (PROMs) differ when patients are stratified by operative level in 3-level ACDF procedures.
methodsIn this retrospective single-institution cohort study, patients undergoing 3-level ACDF (2014-2020) were reviewed for demographics, clinical outcomes, and PROMs. Patients with operative indications of infection/cancer/trauma/deformity were excluded. Patients with incomplete preoperative or 1-year postoperative PROMs were also excluded. PROMs, including SF-12, VAS Neck, VAS Arm, mJOA, and NDI, were assessed preoperatively and at 3, 6, and 12 months postoperatively. One-year MCID achievement was calculated using established thresholds. Patients were stratified and compared by construct level (C3-C6, C4-C7, and C5-T1).
resultsPatients undergoing C3-C6 fusions were older than those in the C4-C7 group (62.7 versus 58.1 years, P = 0.007). The C5-T1 cohort had a higher 2-year reoperation rate compared to the C4-C7 cohort (18.2% versus 0.77%, P = 0.048). Baseline VAS Arm scores were worse in the C4-C7 group, with greater improvement at 1 year compared to the C3-C6 group (-3.45 versus - 2.27, P = 0.047). A transient difference in NDI at 3 months resolved by 6 months. MCID achievement rates across all PROMs did not differ significantly between groups.
conclusionIn patients undergoing 3-level ACDF, the operative level was associated with reoperation rates and baseline symptom profiles. However, the likelihood of achieving clinically meaningful improvements was similar across levels. Our findings support the need for construct-specific preoperative counseling while reinforcing the overall efficacy of 3-level ACDF across cervical levels.
Indexed as
Identifiers
41961130What 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.