Predictors of Axial Pain Improvement After Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion

Neck pain is a common, multifactorial condition. In the case of degenerative cervical spinal disease, it can result from changes in the intervertebral discs, muscles, intervertebral joints, or sagittal imbalance. Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) is a currently widely accepted procedure for treating cervical degenerative spine disease, with a high patient satisfaction rate. In the current state of knowledge, it is not used for treating axial neck pain, but rather in cases of discopathy causing spinal myelopathy or cervical radiculopathy, in which neck pain often coexists or predominates. The current literature provides ample evidence of the significant effect of ACDF in improving axial neck pain in the conditions mentioned previously. However, little information exists on which patients achieve improvement. The aim of this prospective study is to analyze the outcomes of ACDF in patients with neck pain and to identify predictors of reduction in axial neck pain after ACDF.