Skip Laminectomy Compared with Laminoplasty for Cervical Compressive Myelopathy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

OBJECTIVE: This meta-analysis evaluated the clinical outcomes of skip laminectomy relative to laminoplasty for the treatment of cervical compressive myelopathy. METHODS: The Cochrane library, PubMed MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Web of Science databases were comprehensively searched to identify relevant articles published up to March 18, 2018. All values of weighted mean difference (WMD) or odds ratio are expressed as skip laminectomy relative to laminoplasty. RESULTS: Four studies comprising 241 patients were included. Skip laminectomy and laminoplasty were comparable in terms of cervical lordotic curvature (weighted mean difference [WMD] -2.37 degrees; 95% confidence interval [CI] -6.18 to 1.43; P = 0.22) and range of motion (WMD -2.65 degrees; 95% CI -6.02 to 0.72; P = 0.12). The pooled data revealed that the mean visual analogue scale score for pain of the skip laminectomy group was significantly lower than that of the laminoplasty group (WMD -0.97; 95% CI -1.90 to -0.05; P = 0.04), and the rate of axial pain was also significantly lower (WMD 0.26; 95% CI 0.07-0.93; P = 0.04). The atrophy rates of the deep extensor muscles in the skip laminectomy group (14%) were significantly lower than that of the laminoplasty group (60%). CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis determined that skip laminectomy was superior to laminoplasty in terms of visual analogue scale score and rates of axial pain and muscle atrophy. These results warrant further confirmation in future research.