Treatment of neurogenic cervical spondylosis with degenerative spinal cord compression

  OBJECTIVE: To investigate the treatment and regression of patients with neurogenic cervical radiculopathy with degenerative spinal cord compression.  METHODS: Twenty-nine patients with cervical radiculopathy with degenerative cervical spinal cord compression were included in the study. All patients continued systematic and comprehensive non-surgical treatment for 2 weeks after admission, and surgical treatment was performed if the nerve function continued to be impaired or if the pain was severe and could not be relieved, and the clinical efficacy was evaluated by VAS and JOA scores before treatment, 2 weeks after treatment, and during follow-up, respectively.  Results: 29 patients were followed up for an average of 1.16 years, of which 18 had different degrees of improvement, 11 had no significant improvement with conservative treatment, 6 of which were treated with surgery, and the remaining 5 patients refused surgery; during the follow-up period, 2 patients with no improvement with conservative treatment did not show clear signs and symptoms of spinal cord-type compression, and 5 had gradual relief of symptoms and paralytic pain. There were statistically significant differences in the improvement of pain and JOA scores in this group before and after treatment and during the follow-up period.  Conclusion: Patients with neurogenic cervical spondylosis with cervical degenerative spinal cord compression have different regressions after systematic and comprehensive non-surgical treatment, and some of them can be “cured” while some still need surgical treatment. Cervical radiculopathy should not be taken as a sign of transformation from degenerative spinal cord compression to spinal cord cervical spondylosis.