Long-Term Follow-Up of Inpatients with Cervical Myelopathy Who Received Integrative Korean Medicine Treatment: A Retrospective Analysis and Questionnaire Survey Study

PURPOSE: Cervical myelopathy (CM) is generally considered an indication for surgery in Western medicine. Case reports have indicated that Korean medicine (KM) treatments are effective in improving CM-associated symptoms. We investigated the effectiveness of non-surgical KM treatment of CM patients through a retrospective chart review and follow-up survey. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the medical records and surveyed follow-up data of CM patients with neurological symptoms admitted to KM hospitals between January 2011 and January 2018. The admission and discharge assessments included the numeric rating scale (NRS) for neck and arm pain, neck disability index (NDI), and 5-level EuroQol 5-dimension (EQ-5D-5L). A follow-up survey was conducted about whether surgery was subsequently performed or recommended, symptom recurrence, discomfort in daily living, current treatment, as well as NRS, NDI, EQ-5D-5L, and patient global impression of change (PGIC) scores. RESULTS: The NRS for neck pain decreased from 4.88 ± 2.03 (95% CI: 4.23‒5.52) at admission to 3.23 ± 1.64 (95% CI: 2.70‒3.75) at discharge and 2.24 ± 1.84 (95% CI: 1.43‒3.05) at follow-up. The NRS for radiating arm pain decreased from 5.42 ± 1.55 (95% CI: 4.93‒5.92) to 3.77 ± 1.54 (95% CI: 3.28‒4.27) at discharge and 2.43 ± 1.60 (95% CI: 1.72‒3.13) at follow-up. The NDI decreased significantly from 36.24 ± 18.79 (95% CI: 30.24‒42.24) at admission to 30.89 ± 15.54 (95% CI: 25.93‒35.86) at discharge and 13.35 ± 11.95 (95% CI: 8.08‒18.63) at follow-up. The EQ-5D score improved significantly from 0.70 ± 0.21 (95% CI: 0.63‒0.77) to 0.78 ± 0.17 (95% CI: 0.73‒0.84) at discharge and 0.84 ± 0.08 (95% CI: 0.80‒0.88) at follow-up. At the follow-up, four patients experienced persistent pain and were undergoing treatment (19.1%), while 20 patients (95.8%) reported symptom improvement. CONCLUSION: From a long-term perspective, integrative KM treatment may help to reduce pain and improve function, and improve quality of life of CM patients.