• Daniel Tarazona, Barrett Boody, Alan S Hilibrand, Justin Stull, Kerri Bell, Taolin Fang, Dhruv Goyal, Matthew Galetta, David Kaye, Christopher K Kepler, Mark F Kurd, Barrett I Woods, Kris E Radcliff, Jeffery A Rihn, David Greg Anderson, Alexander R Vaccaro, and Gregory D Schroeder.
• Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Rothman Institute at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA.
• Spine. 2019 May 15; 44 (10): 685-690.

Study DesignRetrospective cohort.ObjectiveDetermine the effect of duration of symptoms (DOS) on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) outcomes for patients with cervical radiculopathy.Summary Of Background DataThe effect of DOS has not been extensively evaluated for cervical radiculopathy.MethodsA retrospective analysis of patients who underwent an anterior cervical decompression and fusion for radiculopathy was performed. Patients were grouped based on DOS of less than 6 months, 6 months to 2 years, and more than 2 years and HRQOL outcomes were evaluated.ResultsA total of 216 patients were included with a mean follow-up of 16.0 months. There were 86, 61, and 69 patients with symptoms for less than 6 months, 6 months to 2 years, and more than 2 years, respectively. No difference in the absolute postoperative score of the patient reported outcomes was identified between the cohorts. However, in the multivariate analysis, radiculopathy for more than 2 years predicted lower postoperative Short Form-12 Physical Component Score (P = 0.037) and Short Form-12 Mental Component Score (P = 0.029), and higher postoperative Neck Disability Index (P = 0.003), neck pain (P = 0.001), and arm pain (P = 0.004) than radiculopathy for less than 6 months. Furthermore, the recovery ratios for patients with symptoms for less than 6 months demonstrated a greater improvement in NDI, neck pain, and arm pain than for 6 months to 2 years (P = 0.041; 0.005; 0.044) and more than 2 years (P = 0.016; 0.014; 0.002), respectively.ConclusionPatients benefit from spine surgery for cervical radiculopathy at all time points, and the absolute postoperative score for the patient reported outcomes did not vary based on the duration of symptoms; however, the regression analysis clearly identified symptoms for more than 2 years as a predictor of worse outcomes, and the recovery ratio was statistically significantly improved in patients who underwent surgery within 6 months of the onset of symptoms.Level Of Evidence3.

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