title: Long-term quality of life after posterior cervical foraminotomy for radiculopathy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Cervical radiculopathy may cause symptoms and loss of function that can lead to a significant reduction in health related quality of life (HRQOL). As part of a comprehensive review of long-term outcomes, we examined HRQOL in a large cohort of patients undergoing posterior cervical foraminotomy (FOR) for radiculopathy.
  
  
  METHODS
  338 patients who underwent FOR between 1990 and 2009 participated in a telephone interview designed to measure symptomatic and functional improvements following surgery. We also administered the EQ-5D, a standardized tool for assessing HRQOL. We analyzed this data for associations between patient and treatment characteristics, improvements in symptoms and function, and HRQOL as measured by the EQ-5D.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean follow-up was 10.0 years. The average EQ-5D at follow-up was 0.81±0.18, and improvements in pain, weakness and function as well as ability to return to work correlated with improved EQ-5D score (p<0.0001). There was no correlation between length of follow-up and EQ-5D score (p=0.980). Additionally, there was no difference between mean EQ-5D score for soft disc versus osteophyte pathology (0.84 versus 0.81, p=0.21).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These data provide evidence that FOR for cervical radiculopathy is associated with improved HRQOL at long-term follow-up. The lack of correlation between length of follow-up and HRQOL suggests that FOR is a durable treatment option. Moreover, FOR is associated with improved HRQOL whether radiculopathy is due to soft disc or osteophyte pathology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Ryan W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Faught
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Penn State Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, PA, USA. Electronic address: echurch@hmc.psu.edu.
authors.forename: Ephraim W
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Church
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Casey H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Halpern
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Usha
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Balmuri
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Attiah
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Sherman C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Stein
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Stephen J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Dante
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: William C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Welch
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Frederick A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Simeone
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae / Q000601:surgery*; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D017586:Diskectomy / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D059526:Foraminotomy / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain / Q000503:physiopathology; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods; D011788:Quality of Life; D011843:Radiculopathy / Q000601:surgery*; D013995:Time; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Cervical radiculopathy; EQ-5D; Foraminotomy; Quality of life; Surgical outcome