Clinical Outcomes of Integrative Korean Medicine Treatment in Patients with Neck Pain Following Cervical Disc Surgery: A Multi-Center Retrospective Study.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to evaluate the clinical outcomes of integrative Korean medicine treatment in reducing pain, improving function, and enhancing quality of life for patients who had undergone cervical disc surgery.

PATIENTS AND

METHODS

A retrospective review was performed on the electronic medical records (EMR) of 181 patients diagnosed with cervical disc herniation on cervical spine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans among those hospitalized for cervical pain following cervical disc surgery at four Korean medicine hospitals in Korea between January 1, 2015, and December 31, 2022. The analysis was based on EMR collected from admission to discharge during the inpatient period. The primary outcome was the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) score for neck pain, and the secondary outcome measures were the Vernon-Mior Neck Disability Index (NDI), the 5-level EuroQol 5-Dimension (EQ-5D-5L), the Patient Global Impression of Change, and range of motion. Disc degeneration grade and herniation area were assessed for all patients using MRI.

RESULTS

Of the 181 patients screened, 142 met the inclusion criteria. The mean neck pain NRS score decreased from 5.61 ± 1.41 at admission to 3.52 ± 1.4 at discharge (difference: -2.09, 95% CI -2.32 to -1.85, p<0.001), and the NDI score from 40.61 ± 18.44 at admission to 31.3 ± 17.05 at discharge (difference: -9.31, 95% CI -11.74 to -6.87, p<0.001). Post-treatment improvements were observed in all outcomes, including the NRS score for radiating arm pain (difference: -2.11, 95% CI -2.40 to -1.82, p<0.001) and the EQ-5D-5L scores (difference: 0.07, 95% CI 0.05 to 0.09, p<0.001); however, no significant differences in outcomes were observed according to the disc degeneration grade.

CONCLUSION

Integrative Korean medicine is associated with short-term improvements of pain, function and quality of life of patients following cervical disc surgery.