Optimizing treatment in Cervical Radiculopathy;a long term-evaluation of an observational cohort study comparing surgical and conservative treatment

Cervical Radicular Syndrome, a condition often caused by a herniated disc
compressing or irritating a nerve root, leads to significant pain and
functional impairment in affected individuals. In most cases, the pain and
disability due to disc herniations resolve spontaneously over time, or are
successfully relieved by a surgical approach. However, in some cases, symptoms
remain even after surgery. There is currently no golden standard for the
management of cervical radicular syndrome. This highlights the limited
knowledge in our understanding of optimal management strategies for this
condition.
In efforts to optimize treatment, we previously conducted a multi-centre
observational cohort study comparing surgical and conservative treatments, the
CASINO trial. The one year follow-up results revealed no significant
differences among the two treatment arms. However, at the two year mark,
patients who underwent surgical treatment demonstrated promising improvements,
particularly in terms of arm and neck pain relief, in comparison to the
conservative arm. These findings suggest that surgical intervention may offer
superior outcomes over a longer time period, yet the long term implications of
these results remain uncertain.

Het onderzoeken van de klinische en radiologische resultaten op lange termijn
van de chirurgische versus conservatieve behandeling van CRS.

Patients that were formely included will be asked to return for follow-up
assessments, including Patient-Reported Outcome Measures and radiological
evaluations. We will examine overall well-being (several parameters) as well as
fusion, degeneration and sagittal balance parameters on neutral and dynamic
X-rays of the cervical spine.

Patients will be asked to fill in online questionnaires (one timepoint) and to
visit a nearby hospital to have X-rays of the cervical spine.