Long-Term Follow-Up of Patients with Neck Pain Associated with Ossification of the Posterior Longitudinal Ligament Treated with Integrative Complementary and Alternative Medicine: A Retrospective Analysis and Questionnaire Survey

PURPOSE: Integrative Korean medicine treatment (KMT) is a conservative treatment approach for the ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) in Korea; nonetheless, relevant studies focusing on KMT for OPLL are lacking. A multicenter retrospective analysis of patient medical records and a questionnaire survey were conducted to investigate the effectiveness of integrative KMT in patients with OPLL treated for neck pain. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 78 inpatients radiologically diagnosed with OPLL and treated for neck pain at four Korean medicine hospitals from April 1, 2016, to December 31, 2019, were enrolled. The primary index was an improvement in the numeric rating scale (NRS) score for neck pain, whereas the secondary outcome indices were improvements in the NRS score for arm pain, neck disability index (NDI) score, and EuroQol 5-dimension 5-level (EQ-5D-5L) score. RESULTS: At discharge, the NRS score for neck pain, NRS score for arm pain, and NDI score decreased by 2.47 (95% confidence interval [CI], −2.81 to −2.14), 1.32 (95% CI, −1.73 to −0.91), and 16.02 (95% CI, −18.89 to −13.15), respectively, as compared with the scores at admission (p < 0.001). The EQ-5D-5L score increased by 0.12 (95% CI, 0.09 to 0.16) as compared with the score at admission (p < 0.001). This trend was also evident during follow-up. With respect to Patient Global Impression of Change evaluation, 33 (61.1%) patients claimed to have very much improved, whereas 17 (31.5%) patients reported to have much improved. CONCLUSION: Inpatients with OPLL who received integrative KMT showed improvements in neck pain, arm pain, the NDI, and quality of life, which were retained throughout the follow-up period.