Pain improvement for cervical disk degeneration

STUDY DESIGN: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs). OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare mid-term to long-term outcomes of cervical disk arthroplasty (CDA) with those of anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) for the treatment of symptomatic cervical degenerative disk disease. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: After ACDF to treat symptomatic cervical degenerative disk disease, the loss of motion at the index level due to fusion may accelerate adjacent-level disk degeneration...

STUDY DESIGN: Systemic review. OBJECTIVE: To understand the role of cervical disk arthroplasty in the treatment of cervical myelopathy. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: The surgical management of degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM) most frequently involves decompression and fusion, but stiffness introduced by the fusion and adjacent segment degeneration remain problems that can result in significant morbidity. Cervical disk arthroplasty (CDA) is a newer procedure that has been demonstrated to be safe and effective for the management of cervical spine degenerative disk disease, but it has not been traditionally considered as a treatment option for DCM and the use for this indication has not been extensively studied...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of visual acupotomy intervention on intervertebral disc degeneration, nucleus pulposus cell apoptosis and expression of apoptosis related proteins in rabbits with cervical spondylosis (CS), so as to explore its mechanism underlying improvement of CS. METHODS: A total of 48 male New Zealand rabbits were randomly divided into blank control, model, acupotomy and medication (meloxicam) groups, with 12 rabbits in each group. The neck type CS model was established by forcing the rabbit to make a neck flexion for 5 hours in a restrained chamber, once daily for 12 weeks...

CASE DESCRIPTION: 4 dogs, 7.5 to 10 years of age, were presented for evaluation of signs of chronic cervical pain and forelimb lameness secondary to cervical foraminal intervertebral disk protrusion (IVDP). All dogs were refractory to ≥ 2 weeks of conservative management including strict rest and pain management with anti-inflammatory drugs, methocarbamol, and gabapentin. CLINICAL FINDINGS: The MRI findings included left foraminal IVDP at C2-3 causing mild C3 nerve root compression (dog 1), multifocal degenerative disk disease with mild focal left-sided disk protrusion at C6-7 without associated spinal cord or nerve root compression (dog 2), left foraminal C6-7 IVDP with suspected focal spinal cord atrophy or mild compression (dog 3), and right foraminal C6-7 IVDP and multifocal cervical intervertebral disk degeneration with annulus fibrosus protrusion (dog 4)...

STUDY DESIGN: This study employed a retrospective study design. OBJECTIVE: This retrospective cohort study aimed to compare the outcomes of anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF), and those of conservative treatment for patients with cervical angina. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Cervical angina is typically characterized by intolerable and paroxysmal angina-like precordial pain, which is caused by cervical disk degeneration in patients without definitive cardiovascular abnormalities...

STUDY DESIGN: This study was a meta-analysis of published randomized controlled trials (RCTs). OBJECTIVE: We investigated the mid-term to long-term outcomes of cervical disk arthroplasty (CDA) versus anterior cervical diskectomy and fusion (ACDF) for the surgical treatment of symptomatic cervical disk degenerative disease. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: ACDF has been widely performed for the surgical treatment of symptomatic cervical disk degenerative disease...

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective study. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the outcome of artificial cervical disk replacement (ACDR) for the treatment of adjacent segment disease (ASD) after anterior cervical decompression and fusion (ACDF). SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: ACDF is the useful procedure for degenerative cervical diseases. However, studies have reported accelerated degeneration of functional spinal units adjacent to the fusion site after ACDF. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between January 2004 and January 2011, 32 inpatients (18 male, 14 female; age, 38-61 y; mean, 48 y) underwent ACDR for the treatment of ASD after previous ACDF (single-level: n=12; 2-level: n=15; 3-level: n=5)...

STUDY DESIGN: This is a retrospective control study. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to determine whether preexisting cervical disk degeneration is a prognostic factor in Whiplash-associated disorder (WAD). SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: WAD is a common injury of traffic accident and has a broad range of prognoses. Although numerous studies have investigated prognostic factors in WAD, few have evaluated the effect of preexisting disk degeneration. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study involved 45 consecutive patients with grade I or II WAD having advanced disk degeneration (at least 1 disk of Miyazaki grade≥III on magnetic resonance imaging) and a control cohort of 52 patients with no or mild disk degeneration (all disks having Miyazaki grades≤II)...

Study Design Retrospective study. Objective We previously reported that the long-term neurologic outcomes of C3-C6 laminoplasty for cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) are satisfactory, with reduced frequencies of postoperative axial neck pain and kyphotic deformity. However, only 20 patients were included, which is a limitation in that study. The present study investigated the incidence of late neurologic deterioration (LND) of myelopathic symptoms after C3-C6 laminoplasty for CSM and attempted to identify significant risk factors for LND in a larger patient population...

STUDY DESIGN: This was a prospective, randomized, controlled multicenter trial. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to compare clinical outcomes at 4-year follow-up of patients receiving cervical total disk replacement (TDR) with those receiving anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF). SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: ACDF has been the traditional treatment for symptomatic disk degeneration. Several studies found single-level TDR to be as safe and effective as ACDF at ≥2 years follow-up...

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective case series study. OBJECTIVE: To clarify the results of a long-term (30 yr) follow-up study of artificial disk replacement (ADR) for the treatment of cervical disk disease. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: The use of the ADR procedure has become widespread during the past 10 years. Its purpose is to preserve motion of the functional spinal unit. However, the long-term results are unknown. METHODS: Thirty-seven patients underwent ADR between 1980 and 1985 in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Changzheng Hospital...

The safety and effectiveness of 2 implantation systems for single-segment cervical disk replacement-the Bryan Cervical Disc System (Medtronic Inc, Minneapolis, Minnesota) and the ACCEL system (Medtronic Inc)-have not been clinically compared. A prospective, nonrandomized controlled study in consecutive patients with a minimum 2-year follow-up was performed. Fifty patients with single-level cervical disk degeneration who responded poorly to conservative treatment and underwent Bryan Cervical Disc replacement were involved...

The purpose of this study was to determine the intermediate clinical and radiographic outcomes of Bryan Cervical Disc (Medtronic Sofamor Danek, Inc, Memphis, Tennessee) replacement for the treatment of cervical degenerative disk disease and its effect on adjacent levels. Between November 2004 and December 2007, thirty-four patients (38 disks) underwent Bryan Cervical Disc replacement in the authors' hospital. The authors retrospectively analyzed the records of 32 patients who completed follow-up. Outcome data were collected preoperatively; at 3, 12, 24 months postoperatively; and at last follow-up, which ranged from 32 to 69 months (average, 49...

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this case report is to describe chiropractic management of a patient with a C6/C7 left posteromedial disk herniation with foraminal narrowing and concomitant neurological compromise in the form of left upper extremity radiating pain and hypoesthesia/anesthesia using Cox flexion-distraction technique. CLINICAL FEATURES: A 64-year-old man presented to a chiropractic clinic with complaints of neck/left shoulder pain and hypoesthesia/anesthesia into the palmar side of his left hand...

OBJECTIVE: Dynamic intervertebral support of the cervical spine via an anterolateral approach using a modular artificial disk prosthesis with end-plate fixation by central keel fixation. INDICATIONS: Cervical median or mediolateral disk herniations, symptomatic cervical disk disease (SCDD) with anterior osseous, ligamentous and/or discogenic narrowing of the spinal canal. CONTRAINDICATIONS: Cervical fractures, tumors, osteoporosis, arthrogenic neck pain, severe facet degeneration, increased segmental instability, ossification of posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL), severe osteopenia, acute and chronic systemic, spinal or local infections, systemic and metabolic diseases, known implant allergy, pregnancy, severe adiposity (body mass index > 36 kg/m2), reduced patient compliance, alcohol abuse, drug abuse and dependency...

STUDY DESIGN: Resident's case problem. BACKGROUND: The C8 nerve root is the least commonly encountered of cervical radiculopathies. The purpose of this resident's case problem is to provide an unusual presentation of a C8 radiculopathy, without cervical or proximal upper quarter symptoms, diagnosed by a combination of physical examination, electromyography (EMG) and nerve conduction studies (NCSs), and imaging. DIAGNOSIS: A 49-year-old, right-hand-dominant male was referred to the EMG/NCS laboratory for a suspected left ulnar neuropathy at the elbow...

BACKGROUND: Cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) is serious consequence of cervical intervertebral disk degeneration. Morbidity ranges from chronic neck pain, radicular pain, headache, myelopathy leading to weakness, and impaired fine motor coordination to quadriparesis and/or sphincter dysfunction. Surgical treatment remains the mainstay of treatment once myelopathy develops. Compared to more conventional surgical techniques for spinal cord decompression, such as anterior cervical discectomy and fusion, laminectomy, and laminoplasty, patients treated with corpectomy have better neurological recovery, less axial neck pain, and lower incidences of postoperative loss of sagittal plane alignment...

Cervical dystonia is the most frequent form of focal dystonia. Further, cervical dystonia can occur as a feature of segmental or generalized dystonias and cerebral palsy. Treatment with botulinum toxin to relieve pain and improve functional and psychological outcome is effective, but expensive. However, pharmacoeconomic studies evaluating treatment and disease costs have not taken into consideration the long-term complications of cervical dystonia. Here we present a review of the medical literature on orthopedic and neurological complications arising from cervical dystonia, including cervical spine degeneration, spondylosis, disk herniation, vertebral subluxations and fractures, radiculopathies and myelopathies...

This is a report of a patient with pains in the shoulders and arms, atrophies of the small muscles of the hands, and paraspasms of the legs. After having suffered from the disease for eight to nine years, the patient was diagnosed as having cervical myelopathy. Measurements of the bony cervical vertebral column, which were made on a lateral roentgenogram, showed extreme narrowness of the spinal canal, the measured values obtained being below the lower limit. In addition, the cervical canal was narrowed at three levels by the formation of projections on degenerate disks...