Observation of intermediate-term curative effect of percutaneous laser disc decompression for the treatment of cervical spondylotic radiculopathy

Abstract

Objective To observe the 2-8 years' follow-up results of percutaneous laser disc decompression(PLDD) on cervical spondylotic radiculopathy,and to identify factors affecting the outcome of PLDD.Methods Eighty-seven patients with cervical spondylotic radiculopathy were treated consecutively by PLDD in our hospital from December 2002 to June 2009,who were followed up for 2-8 years.There were 32males and 26 females,with the mean age of 51.8 years (range,26-74).The results were evaluated according to the Japanese Orthopedic Association's score of cervical spondylotic radiculopathy (JOA 20 score) and numeric rating scales (NRS) after surgery.Two years after the operation,the excellent and good rate of JOA score of patients with different genders,ages and duration of each subgroup will be compared.Results The excellent and good rate were 37.9％,51.7％,65.5％,81.0％,82.8％,80.9％,72.4％ and 72.7％ at 1,3,6months and 1,2,4,6,8 years after operation respectively.Significant difference was found between the time points of 6 months to eight years after operation and that of one month after operation.The NRS score of the pain symptoms at the final follow-up was significantly reduced (P＜0.05).The excellent and good rate of patients whose course of disease (93.3％) was less than 18 months was significantly higher than that of those whose course of disease was over than 18 months (71.4％) two years after operation (P＜0.05).Conclusion The intermediate-term curative effect of PLDD for the treatment of cervical spondylotic radiculopathy is reliable and stable,and the postoperative curative effect may be influenced by patients' duration of disease. Key words: Cervical spendylosis; Laser surgery; Surgical procedures, minimally invasive; Treatmentoutcome