Low back pain and cervical spondylotic myelopathy.

Abstract

PURPOSE: To determine characteristics responsible for improvement of low back pain after cervical laminoplasty for cervical spondylotic myelopathy. METHODS: 18 men and 10 women aged 38 to 88 (mean, 71) years who had a low back pain visual analogue scale (VAS) score of 5 or more before cervical laminoplasty were included. In 12 patients the VAS score improved to 1 or <1 after surgery and remained so at 2 years, but in 16 it remained unimproved. Patient characteristics of the 2 groups were compared. RESULTS: Preoperatively, 11 of the 12 patients with improved VAS score had continuous low back pain all day, compared to 3 of the 16 who remained unimproved (p<0.01). CONCLUSION: In some patients, low back pain may be improved following cervical laminoplasty.