Evidence & Methods
Interest in motion-preserving approaches for the management of cervical degenerative conditions has increased in recent years. While many studies with short-term follow-up support the safety of these interventions, there is little information on the long-term impact of such procedures, particularly the need for further surgery. In this context, the authors performed a retrospective review of a series of 70 patients with approximate mid-term follow-up (mean 32.1 months).
The authors noted substantive improvements in neck pain and neck disability index scores following surgery. Approximately four percent of patients sustained a complication and 5% necessitated an anterior cervical fusion within the follow-up period.
This study provides further information on the safety profile and short-term efficacy of minimally invasive posterior cervical foraminotomy and microdiscectomy. However, the data may have been collected, this study is a retrospective analysis and subject to confounding by selection, indication, information bias, and patients lost to follow-up. The study presents a series of patients treated in like fashion, without any control arm. Additionally, with a mean follow-up of less than three years' time, this study may be at risk of under-reporting the long-term need for further surgery.
—The Editors