Objective: To investigate the therapeutic effect and mechanism of the surgical treatment for cervical vertigo with cervical spondylosis.
Methods: Thirty-five patients in Department of Orthopaedics, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College, who received surgical treatment for cervical spondylosis concomitant with cervical vertigo from 2004 to 2013 were reviewed retrospectively. The preoperative cervical curvature index (CCI), slip distance and intervertebral angle, as well as the pre-and-postoperative Cobb angle were measured. The pre-and-postoperative degree of vertigo was reported according to the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Committee on Hearing and Equilibrium standard. The therapeutic effect and mechanism for patients with different imaging features and thus underwent various surgical approaches were analyzed.
Results: The mean follow-up was 40.6 months. Cervical instability was found in 33 patients. 29 of 35 (82.9%) patients had a satisfied recovery from cervical vertigo. The difference in Cobb angle in pre- and postoperative neutral cervical X-ray images was positively associated with the improvement for the vertigo (Pearson's test, P < 0.05).
Conclusions: Cervical instability may be the major cause of cervical vertigo in the context of cervical spondylosis. Cervical sympathetic nerves may have played an important role in the cervical vertigo. Surgery may relieve the cervical vertigo accompanying the cervical spondylosis.