Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

A Clinical Practice Guideline For The Management Of Patients With Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy: Recommendations For Patients With Mild, Moderate, And Severe Disease And Nonmyelopathic Patients With Evidence Of Cord Compression, Michael G. Fehlings, Lindsay A. Tetreault, K. Daniel Riew, James W. Middleton, Bizhan Aarabi, Paul M. Arnold, Darrel S. Brodke, Anthony S. Burns, Simon Carette, Robert Chen, Kazuhiro Chiba, Joseph R. Dettori, Julio C. Ferlan, James S. Harrop, Langston T. Holly, Sukhvinder Kalsi-Ryan, Mark Kotter, Brian K. Kwon, Allan R. Martin, James Milligan, Hiroaki Nakashima, Narihito Nagoshi, John Rhee, Anoushka Singh, Andrea C. Skelly, Sumeet Sodhi, Jefferson R. Wilson, Albert Yee, Jeffrey C. Wang

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

Study Design: Guideline development. Objectives: The objective of this study is to develop guidelines that outline how to best manage (1) patients with mild, moderate, and severe myelopathy and (2) nonmyelopathic patients with evidence of cord compression with or without clinical symptoms of radiculopathy. Methods: Five systematic reviews of the literature were conducted to synthesize evidence on disease natural history; risk factors of disease progression; the efficacy, effectiveness, and safety of nonoperative and surgical management; the impact of preoperative duration of symptoms and myelopathy severity on treatment outcomes; and the frequency, timing, and predictors of symptom development. A multidisciplinary guideline …