Low back pain and cervical spondylotic myelopathy.

PURPOSE To determine characteristics responsible for improvement of low back pain after cervical laminoplasty for cervical spondylotic myelopathy. METHODS 18 men and 10 women aged 38 to 88 (mean, 71) years who had a low back pain visual analogue scale (VAS) score of 5 or more before cervical laminoplasty were included. In 12 patients the VAS score improved to 1 or <1 after surgery and remained so at 2 years, but in 16 it remained unimproved. Patient characteristics of the 2 groups were compared. RESULTS Preoperatively, 11 of the 12 patients with improved VAS score had continuous low back pain all day, compared to 3 of the 16 who remained unimproved (p<0.01). CONCLUSION In some patients, low back pain may be improved following cervical laminoplasty.