Objective: Increased signal intensity (ISI) on T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) often indicates severe compression in patients with cervical myelopathy (CM). The optimal surgical approach for CM patients with ISI on T2-weighted MRI remains unclear. This meta-analysis aims to compare the clinical outcomes between anterior and posterior approaches for the treatment of these patients.
Methods: MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) were searched for relevant studies through January 2019. Statistical comparisons were made when appropriate.
Results: A total of 9 studies (748 participants) out of 1066 citations were included in this study. All of the selected studies were high quality, as indicated by the Newcastle-Ottawa scale and the Cochrane Collaboration tool for assessing the risk of bias. Clinical outcomes were compared between anterior and posterior approaches in 4 studies (237 participants). The preoperative Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) score was similar between the two groups [P = 0.98, weighted mean difference (WMD) = 0.01 (- 0.58, 0.59)]. The postoperative JOA score [P < 0.05, WMD = 0.68 (0.06, 1.30)] and recovery rates [P < 0.01, WMD = 0.12 (0.06, 0.17)] were significantly higher in the anterior group than in the posterior group.
Conclusion: The anterior approach was associated with better postoperative neural function than the posterior approach in CM patients with ISI on T2-weighted MRI.