Return-to-Play Outcomes in Elite Athletes After Cervical Spine Surgery: A Systematic Review

Context: Return-to-play (RTP) outcomes in elite athletes after cervical spine surgery are currently unknown. Objective: To systematically review RTP outcomes in elite athletes after anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF), cervical disc replacement (CDR), or posterior foraminotomy (PF) surgery. Data Sources: EMBASE, PubMed, Cochrane, and Medline databases from inception until April 2020. Keywords included elite athletes, return to play, ACDF, foraminotomy, and cervical disc replacement. Study Selection: Eligible studies included those that reported RTP outcomes in elite athletes after cervical spine surgery. Study Design: Systematic review. Level of Evidence: Level 4. Data Extraction: Data were extracted by 2 independent reviewers. Results: The primary outcomes of interest were rates and timing of RTP. Secondary outcomes included performance on RTP. A total of 1720 studies were initially screened. After inclusion criteria were applied, 13 studies with a total of 349 patients were included. A total of 262 (75%) played football, 37 (11%) played baseball, 19 (5%) played rugby, 10 (3%) played basketball, 10 (3%) played hockey, 9 (3%) were wresters, and 2 (1%) played soccer. ACDF was reported in 13 studies, PF in 3 studies, and CDR in 2 studies. The majority of studies suggest that RTP after surgical management is safe in elite athletes who are asymptomatic after their procedure and may lead to higher rates and earlier times of RTP. There is limited evidence regarding RTP or outcomes after CDR or multilevel surgery. Conclusion: The management and RTP in elite athletes after cervical spine injury is a highly complex and multifactorial topic. The overall evidence in this review suggests that RTP in asymptomatic athletes after both ACDF and PF is safe, and there is little evidence for decreased performance postoperatively. Surgical management results in a higher RTP rate compared with athletes managed conservatively.

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Cervical spine surgery in professional athletes: a systematic review

Neurosurgical FOCUS ◽

10.3171/2016.1.focus15560 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 40 (4) ◽

pp. E10 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Andrei F. Joaquim ◽

Wellington K. Hsu ◽

Alpesh A. Patel

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Cervical Spine ◽

Spine Surgery ◽

Disc Herniation ◽

Cervical Disc Herniation ◽

Return To Play ◽

Cervical Disc ◽

Cervical Spine Surgery ◽

Spine Pathology ◽

High Level

Cervical surgery is one of the most common surgical spinal procedures performed around the world. The authors performed a systematic review of the literature reporting the outcomes of cervical spine surgery in high-level athletes in order to better understand the nuances of cervical spine pathology in this population. A search of the MEDLINE database using the search terms “cervical spine” AND “surgery” AND “athletes” yielded 54 abstracts. After exclusion of publications that did not meet the criteria for inclusion, a total of 8 papers reporting the outcome of cervical spine surgery in professional or elite athletes treated for symptoms secondary to cervical spine pathology (focusing in degenerative conditions) remained for analysis. Five of these involved the management of cervical disc herniation, 3 were specifically about traumatic neurapraxia. The majority of the patients included in this review were American football players. Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) was commonly performed in high-level athletes for the treatment of cervical disc herniation. Most of the studies suggested that return to play is safe for athletes who are asymptomatic after ACDF for cervical radiculopathy due to disc herniation. Surgical treatment may provide a higher rate of return to play for these athletes than nonsurgical treatment. Return to play after cervical spinal cord contusion may be possible in asymptomatic patients. Cervical cord signal changes on MRI may not be an absolute contraindication for return to play in neurologically intact patients, according to some authors. Cervical contusions secondary to cervical stenosis may be associated with a worse outcome and a higher recurrence rate than those those secondary to disc herniation. The evidence is low (Level IV) and individualized treatment must be recommended.

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A Correlation Analysis Between Postoperative Dysphagia and Change of C2-C7 Angle after Anterior Cervical Spine Surgery

10.21203/rs.3.rs-200427/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Jie Yu ◽

Xiaohui Tao

Keyword(s):

Cervical Spine ◽

Spinal Surgery ◽

Cervical Disc ◽

Cervical Lordosis ◽

Postoperative Dysphagia ◽

Cervical Spine Surgery ◽

Cervical Disc Replacement ◽

Anterior Cervical Spine Surgery ◽

Angle Change

Abstract Background. Dysphagia after cervical spinal surgery is one of highly prevalent comorbidities in clinical practice. Studies suggest that excessive O-C2 angle change at occipital-cervical fusion causes the oropharyngeal volume reduction leading to severe dysphagia and even respiratory distress after operation. However, rare study has accessed the impact of C2-C7 angle change on the occurrence of dysphagia after anterior cervical spinal surgery. Methods. From June 2007 to May 2010, A total of 198 patients was treated with anterior cervical decompression and plate fixation and 12 months follow-up was completed in 172 patients. Within the same session, a total of 154 patients underwent anterior cervical disc replacement and at least 1-year follow-up was completed in 98 patients. All 270 patients who participated in this study completed a questionnaire (Bazaz dysphagia questionnaire) after telephone follow-up including the onset and time of appearance of dysphagia, symptom relief, treatment plan and so on. To determine whether excessive cervical lordosis change (change of C2-C7 angle) and other risk factors were associated with the dysphagia symptom, all patients were divided into the dysphagia group and the control group, followed over 12 months.Results. The results showed that 12.8% presented with postoperative dysphagia in anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) group and 5.1% in cervical disc replacement (CDR) group. According to the regression equation, the excessive change of C2-C7 angle can significantly increase the incidence rate of postoperative dysphagia. The incidence rate of postoperative dysphagia in patients whose C2-C7 angle change more than 5 degree was significantly greater than patients less than 5 degree. Sex, age, BMI, operation time, blood loss, surgery approach (anterior/posterior), revision ratio, the number of surgical segments, the highest surgical segment, and C3 segment included or not cannot affect the occurrence of dysphagia. Conclusions. Dysphagia after cervical spinal surgery is one of highly prevalent comorbidities. Cervical lordosis change is an important influencing factor on the occurrence of dysphagia after anterior cervical spine surgery.

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Esophageal perforation after anterior cervical spine surgery: a systematic review of the literature

Journal of Neurosurgery Spine ◽

10.3171/2016.1.spine15898 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 25 (3) ◽

pp. 285-291 ◽

Cited By ~ 33

Author(s):

Sameer H. Halani ◽

Griffin R. Baum ◽

Jonathan P. Riley ◽

Gustavo Pradilla ◽

Daniel Refai ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Cervical Spine ◽

Spine Surgery ◽

Esophageal Perforation ◽

Spinal Surgery ◽

Esophageal Injury ◽

Cervical Spine Surgery ◽

Anterior Cervical Spine Surgery ◽

Pubmed Search ◽

Anterior Spinal Surgery

OBJECTIVE Esophageal perforation is a rare but well-known complication of anterior cervical spine surgery. The authors performed a systematic review of the literature to evaluate symptomatology, direct causes, repair methods, and associated complications of esophageal injury. METHODS A PubMed search that adhered to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines included relevant clinical studies and case reports (articles written in the English language that included humans as subjects) that reported patients who underwent anterior spinal surgery and sustained some form of esophageal perforation. Available data on clinical presentation, the surgical procedure performed, outcome measures, and other individual variables were abstracted from 1980 through 2015. RESULTS The PubMed search yielded 65 articles with 153 patients (mean age 44.7 years; range 14–85 years) who underwent anterior spinal surgery and sustained esophageal perforation, either during surgery or in a delayed fashion. The most common indications for initial anterior cervical spine surgery in these cases were vertebral fracture/dislocation (n = 77), spondylotic myelopathy (n = 15), and nucleus pulposus herniation (n = 10). The most commonly involved spinal levels were C5–6 (n = 51) and C6–7 (n = 39). The most common presenting symptoms included dysphagia (n =63), fever (n = 24), neck swelling (n = 23), and wound leakage (n = 18). The etiology of esophageal perforation included hardware failure (n = 31), hardware erosion (n = 23), and intraoperative injury (n = 14). The imaging modalities used to identify the esophageal perforations included modified contrast dye swallow studies, CT, endoscopy, plain radiography, and MRI. Esophageal repair was most commonly achieved using a modified muscle flap, as well as with primary closure. Outcomes measured in the literature were often defined by the time to oral intake following esophageal repair. Complications included pneumonia (n = 6), mediastinitis (n = 4), osteomyelitis (n = 3), sepsis (n = 3), acute respiratory distress syndrome (n = 2), and recurrent laryngeal nerve damage (n = 1). The mortality rate of esophageal perforation in the analysis was 3.92% (6 of 153 reported patients). CONCLUSIONS Esophageal perforation after anterior cervical spine surgery is a rare complication. This systematic review demonstrates that these perforations can be stratified into 3 categories based on the timing of symptomatic onset: intraoperative, early postoperative (within 30 days of anterior spinal surgery), and delayed. The most common source of esophageal injury is hardware erosion or migration, each of which may vary in their time to symptomatic manifestation.

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