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More than half of NFL players returned to sport after surgery for upper-level cervical disc herniation
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Investigators of this study found most National Football League athletes who underwent surgery for upper-level cervical disc herniations returned to competitive levels of play and had postoperative performance outcomes similar to players who had surgery for lower-level disc herniations.
“[Overall] a higher than expected rate of athletes return after surgery for cervical disc herniations in the NFL,” Harry T. Mai, MD, told Spine Surgery Today. “The seemingly more dangerous ‘upper level’ or more cephalad levels did not prove to be more dangerous than more benign ‘lower level’ surgeries.”
Mai and colleagues identified 40 National Football League players with a cervical disc herniation. Investigators categorized the players has having either upper-level cervical disc herniation or lower-level cervical disc herniation. Return-to-play statistics and a performance score were used to determine the impact on players’ outcomes.
Results showed 10 of the 15 patients in the upper-level group returned to play after surgery for an average of 44.6 games during the course of 2.6 years. Of the 25 athletes in the lower-level group, 18 athletes returned to play for an average of 44.1 games during the course of 3.1 years. The return-to-play rate was not significantly different between the two groups.
According to researchers, the postoperative performance scores were 1.47 and 0.69 for the upper-level group and lower-level group, respectively. Performance scores were not significantly different between the two groups. ‒ by Monica Jaramillo
Reference:
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/10/161004111655.htm
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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