A new article published in Spine examines the range-of-motion and health-related quality of life for cervical fusion patients.
The researchers examined 105 patients who were enrolled in the study. There were 35 patients who underwent single-level anterior cervical discectomy and fusion; 41 patients underwent two-level procedures and 28 patients underwent three- or more-level surgery.
The researchers found:
1. There weren't decreases in the C2-7 motion among the patients who underwent one-level fusion.
2. There was an average seven-degree decrease in motion among the patients who had two levels fused. Among the three-levels fused patients there was a 18-degree difference.
3. For patients who had four- or more-levels fused there was a 22-degree decrease in range of motion.
4. The number of fused levels didn't have an impact on the radiographic adjacent segment pathology.
5. There was a significant correlation between the number of levels fused and the health-related quality of life scores. The cervical range-of-motion and C2-7 sagittal vertical axis didn't show a significant correlation between the number of levels fused.