Do Intraoperative Neurophysiological Changes During Decompressive Surgery for Cervical Myeloradiculopathy Affect Functional Outcome? A Prospective Study
Overview
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Study Design: Prospective cohort.
Objective: To investigate whether intraoperative neuromonitoring (IONM) positive changes affect functional outcome after surgical intervention for myeloradiculopathy secondary to cervical compressive pathology (cervical compressive myelopathy).
Methods: Twenty-eight patients who underwent cervical spine surgery with IONM for compressive myeloradiculopathy were enrolled. During surgery motor-evoked potential (MEP) and somatosensory evoked potential (SSEP) at baseline and before and after decompression were documented. A decrease in latency >10% or an increase in amplitude >50% was regarded as a "positive changes." Patients were divided into subgroups based on IONM changes: group A (those with positive changes) and group B (those with no change or deterioration). Nurick grade and modified Japanese Orthopaedic Association (mJOA) score were evaluated before and after surgery.
Results: Nine patients (32.1%) showed improvement in MEP. The mean preoperative Nurick grade and mJOA score of group A and B were (2.55 ± 0.83 and 11.11 ± 1.65) and (2.47 ± 0.7 and 11.32 ± 1.24), respectively. The mean postoperative Nurick grade of groups A and B at 6 months was 1.55 ± 0.74 and 1.63 ± 0.46, respectively, and this difference was not significant. The mean postoperative mJOA score of groups A and B at 6 months was 14.3 ± 1.03 and 12.9 ± 0.98, respectively, and this difference was statistically significant ( = .011). Spearman correlation coefficient showed significant positive correlation between the IONM change and the mJOA score at 6 months postoperatively ( = 0.47; = .01).
Conclusion: Our study shows that impact of positive changes in MEP during IONM reflect in functional improvement at 6 months postoperatively in cervical compressive myelopathy patients.
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PMID: 36734372 PMC: 11192112. DOI: 10.1177/21925682231155159.
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