Utilization of Neuromonitoring in Surgical Cervical Spondylosis Patients With the Presence or Absence of Myelopathy: Is It Standard?

STUDY

DESIGN

Cross-sectional, observational study.

OBJECTIVE

Investigate the frequency of intraoperative neuromonitoring (IONM) utilization among Medicare patients diagnosed with cervical spondylosis (CS), both with and without myelopathy.

BACKGROUND

IONM is widely used as a tool in spine surgery. However, the overall prevalence of neuromonitoring utilization among CS undergoing surgical intervention is not well characterized.

METHODS

This study observed neuromonitoring usage in CS patients who had cervical spinal procedures from 2012 to 2020, using a 5% random sample of Medicare data. Logistic regression compared patient characteristics between those who received neuromonitoring and those who did not. The model included age, sex, region, Elixhauser Comorbidity Index score, year of surgery, elective status, and procedure type. Odds ratios with a 95% CI were generated for each covariate.

RESULTS

Of the 6224 patients who underwent cervical procedures for CS, 4053 were included in the study, with 2845 having myelopathy and 1208 without. Myelopathy patients had a higher number of hospitalizations (2884) compared with non-myelopathy patients (1229). Among myelopathy patients, the prevalence of neuromonitoring increased from 49.2% in 2012 to 56.5% in 2020. The range of utilization for each type of monitoring was: 96.4%-100% for somatosensory evoked potential, 73.2%-86.1% for electromyography, 70.0%-86.1% for motor evoked potential, and 17.6%-33.6% for other modalities. For non-myelopathy patients, neuromonitoring prevalence increased from 33.1% in 2012 to 43.3% in 2020. The range of utilization for each type of monitoring was: 93.0%-100% for somatosensory evoked potential, 68.9%-89.7% for electromyography, 55.8%-77.4% for motor evoked potential, and 17.8%-36.4% for other modalities.

CONCLUSIONS

This study investigates the utilization of IONM during cervical spinal surgeries in Medicare patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy or CS between 2012 and 2020. Although IONM is employed in cervical spine procedures, its adoption and standardization appear to vary across the country and different health care settings.