ArticleAsian journal of neurosurgery2026
Rigid Cervical Collars after Posterior Cervical Fusion: Do They Improve Outcomes? A Randomized Clinical Trial.
Article in Asian journal of neurosurgery, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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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.
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Abstract
Objective: To evaluate whether the postoperative use of a rigid cervical collar after posterior cervical decompression and fusion (PCDF) improves neck pain, functional disability, and quality of life in patients with degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM). Materials and Methods: A single-blind, randomized controlled trial was conducted involving 60 adult patients with magnetic resonance imaging-confirmed DCM undergoing PCDF at two tertiary centers. Participants were randomly assigned to either a rigid cervical collar group ( Statistical Analysis: The primary outcome was axial neck pain at 1 month, measured by the visual analog scale (VAS). Secondary outcomes included the neck disability index (NDI) and the 36-Item Short Form Survey (SF-36). Statistical tests included paired Results: Both groups experienced significant improvements in VAS, NDI, and SF-36 scores over time. However, there were no statistically significant differences between the collar and no-collar groups at any measured time point. At 1 month, mean VAS scores were 4.30 ± 0.75 (collar) and 4.07 ± 0.58 (no collar; Conclusion: The use of a rigid cervical collar after PCDF did not confer additional benefit for neck pain, functional outcomes, or quality of life compared with no collar. These findings suggest that routine rigid cervical collar prescription after PCDF should be reconsidered. Given the study's limited statistical power (26.4%) and lack of surgeon/patient blinding, findings should be interpreted cautiously.
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