Clinical Research Directory

Patient Reported Recovery of Muscle Strength After Surgery for Cervical Radiculopathy, Impact of Duration and Severity on Recovery.

DCR surgery is generally recommended for patients with severe or progressive limb paresis. The incidence of motor weakness reported to be up to 70%, with a varying recovery rate up to 90%, and the prospects of recovery is most likely dependent on paresis severity and duration. Operative treatment could facilitate earlier recovery, but the evidence is weak and based on smaller and heterogeneous DCM/DCR populations. There is also a lack of knowledge concerning timing of surgery, i.e. the influence of paresis duration, surgical delay and preoperative paresis. It is also unclear if there is an association between the underlying DCR pathology (disc herniation, spondylosis or both) and prognosis. The aim of this sub-study is to assess the frequency and severity of limb preoperative paresis in patients operated for DCR, and to improve prognostication of recovery and timing of surgery. To the best of our knowledge, these issues have not been properly investigated previously. New knowledge in this field is highly sought by clinicians and can Inform patients, and physicians in shared decision making, i.e. helping them to choose more wisely between different treatment strategies. New insight in this field would be also be useful in clinical guideline development, for reducing surgical practice variation, for modifying outcome expectations, improve patient selection (clinical guideline development) and clinical outcomes of DCR surgery.