Title of article :
A Comparison of Clinical Outcomes between Early Cervical Spine Stabilizer Training and Usual Care in Individuals following Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion
Author/Authors :
Roddey, Toni Texas Woman’s University - School of Physical Therapy - Southwestern Medical Avenue - Dallas - TX, USA , McFarland, Carol Texas Woman’s University - School of Physical Therapy - Southwestern Medical Avenue - Dallas - TX, USA , Wang-Price, Sharon Texas Woman’s University - School of Physical Therapy - Southwestern Medical Avenue - Dallas - TX, USA , Medley, Ann Texas Woman’s University - School of Physical Therapy - Southwestern Medical Avenue - Dallas - TX, USA , Gordon, Charles R. Texas Spine and Joint Hospital - Tyler - TX, USA , Danielson, Guy Otis Texas Spine and Joint Hospital - Tyler - TX, USA , Crutchfield, J. Stuart Texas Spine and Joint Hospital - Tyler - TX, USA
Abstract :
Randomized clinical trial.Objectives. Early physical therapy (PT) with specific stabilization training has been shownto benefit individuals after lumbar spinal surgery but has not been studied in patients after cervical spine surgery. The primarypurpose of this study was to compare clinical outcomes between early cervical spine stabilizer (ECS) training and usual care(UC) in patients after anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) surgery. The secondary purpose was to determine test-retest reliability of strength and endurance tests of cervical spinal stabilizers in this patient population.Methods. Fortyparticipants who were scheduled for ACDF surgery were randomized into either the ECS group or the UC group. After surgery,participants received their assigned group intervention during their hospital stay and continued their assigned intervention for12 weeks. All participants had phone follow-ups twice during thefirst 6 weeks to address questions or problems. Clinicaloutcome measures including pain level using the Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS), disability level using the Neck DisabilityIndex (NDI), Craniocervical Flexor Strength (CCF-S), and Craniocervical Flexor Endurance (CCF-E) were collected three times:before surgery and 6 and 12 weeks after surgery. Test-retest reliability was assessed in thefirst 10 participants.Results. Therewas no significant interaction between the groups over time for any of the outcome measures. However, all participants madesignificant improvements in all four outcome measures at 6 and 12 weeks post surgery. The results showed good-to-excellenttest-retest reliability for the CCF-S and CCF-E tests.Conclusions. Both ECS training and UC resulted in the same amount ofimprovement at 6 and 12 weeks; therefore, both therapy approaches appear to have similar and positive effects on patients intheirfirst 3 months of recovery after ACDF. Both the CCF-S and CCF-E tests can be used reliably to assess the strength andendurance of the cervical spinal stabilizers for patients after ACDF surgery. The study was registered with the ClinicalTrials.gov(NIH, U.S. National Library of Medicine, identifier # NCT01519115) Protocol Registration system
Keywords :
Clinical Outcomes , Early Cervical Spine Stabilizer Training , Usual Care , Individuals following Anterior Cervical Discectomy , Fusion , PT , ECS , ACDF
Journal title :
Rehabilitation Research and Practice
