Laminoplasty Achieves Improved Outcomes Despite Leading to a More Positive Sagittal Balance: Neither Preoperative Nor Postoperative Sagittal Balance Correlated With Spine-specific Outcome Data

Study Design: A retrospective study of prospective data. Objective: Determine the correlation between cervical sagittal alignment, either preoperative or postoperative, and the outcomes of laminoplasty. Summary of Background Data: Cervical laminoplasty is a common surgical treatment for myelopathy. However, the effect of preoperative or postoperative cervical sagittal alignment on outcomes, such as neurological improvement and patient-reported outcomes, remains unclear. Methods: A total of 144 consecutive patients (2007–2017) with laminoplasty for myelopathy and a minimum of 1-year postoperative follow-up were reviewed. The severity of myelopathy was assessed by modified Japanese Orthopedic Association (mJOA) scores. Total pain was measured by the visual analog scale. Patient-reported outcome included neck disability index (NDI) and 12-item short-form survey (SF-12). Radiographic measures of cervical sagittal alignment on x-ray images consisted of C2–C7 angle, T1 slope, C2–C7 sagittal vertical axis (SVA), and C2–C7 forward pitch (FP). Patients were also divided into 2 groups based on the postoperative C2–C7 SVA (≥40 or
Source: Journal of Spinal Disorders and Techniques - Category: Surgery Tags: Primary Research Source Type: research