Interaction of demographic factors with the results of the surgery for degenerative disease of the cervical spine: a retrospective evaluation()

OBJECTIVE: Degenerative disease of the cervical spine is a frequent source of intermittent neck pain, where the predominant symptom is axial neck pain. The indications for surgical treatment are reserved for the cases where the conservative treatment has not relieved the symptoms or the patient presents progressive neurological impairment. The objective of this study was to evaluate the prognostic factors involved in patients submitted to surgical treatment of the cervical spine. METHODS: The study analyzed data from patients submitted to cervical spine surgery between July 2011 and November 2015 (n = 58). The evaluated data included smoking habits, hypertension, diabetes, overweight, surgical technique, and number of levels of fusion. The primary outcome was defined as pain and the secondary outcomes were quality of life and disability. RESULTS: A statistically significant difference was found between baseline and the 12-month post-operative results regarding pain in favor of non-hypertensive patients (p = 0.009) and discectomy plus instrumentation (p = 0.004). There was also significant difference between the results of neck disability in favor of non-hypertensive patients (p = 0.028) and patients with body mass index lower than 25 kg/m(2) (p = 0.005). There was no significant interaction between any analyzed data and the quality of life score results. CONCLUSIONS: Non-hypertensive patients, those with body mass index lower than 25 kg/m(2), and those submitted to discectomy combined with arthrodesis of the cervical spine are the most benefited by cervical degenerative disease surgery.