Comparison of Perioperative Outcomes of Cervical Disc Arthroplasty in Patients with Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy and Radiculopathy

Introduction: There is an unmet need to compare the effectiveness of cervical disc arthroplasty (CDA) between cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) and radiculopathy (CSR). Previous studies have primarily evaluated CDA outcomes in mixed CSM and CSR cohorts. We aim to compare perioperative outcomes of CDA performed for these indications in our institution.

Methods: The Neurosurgery Enterprise Registry at Mayo Clinic was queried for patients who underwent CDA for CSM or CSR from 2017-2023. Length of stay (LOS), discharge disposition, 30-day, 90-day, and 1-year readmission rates comprised our primary endpoints.

Results: Thirty-eight patients with CSM and 172 patients with CSR underwent CDA from August 2017-March 2023 (p < 0.01). Male patients comprised 36.8% of CSM and 58.1% of CSR cases (p=0.01), while the mean age was 40.4 ± 8.9 in CSM and 45.7 ± 8.4 in CSR (p < 0.01). Discharge to home was observed in all CSM cases and 169 (98.3%) CSR cases (p=0.4). The mean LOS (p=0.7), 30-day (p=0.5), 90-day (p=0.9), and 1-year readmission rates (p=0.1) did not significantly differ between the CSM and CSR groups.

Conclusion : Among the patients who received CDA for the treatment of CSM or CSR in our institution, no significant differences were observed regarding LOS, discharge disposition, and readmissions up to 1 year after surgery. Our analysis shows that CDA constitutes a viable option yielding comparable outcomes in both CSM and CSR.