Evidence mapPaperPMID 40533577Full record

ArticleEuropean spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society2025

Weight change patterns following surgery for cervical spondylosis in overweight and obese individuals: a nationwide longitudinal study.

Victor Gabriel El-Hajj, Marcus Roland Victor Gustafsson, Blake Clement, Victor E Staartjes, Mohamad Bydon, Paul Gerdhem, Adrian Elmi-Terander, Erik Edström

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Article in European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

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Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Victor Gabriel El-HajjDepartment of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. victor.gabriel.elhajj@stud.ki.se.
Marcus Roland Victor GustafssonDepartment of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Blake ClementDepartment of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Victor E StaartjesMachine Intelligence in Clinical Neuroscience & Microsurgical Neuroanatomy (MICN) Laboratory, Department of Neurosurgery, Clinical Neuroscience Center, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Mohamad BydonDepartment of Neurosurgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, USA.
Paul GerdhemDepartment of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Adrian Elmi-TeranderDepartment of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. adrian.elmi.terander@ki.se.
Erik EdströmDepartment of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionCervical spondylosis may cause pain and disability, which leads to reduced activity levels and subsequent weight gains in affected patients. Surgical treatment of cervical spondylosis has been shown to improve quality of life and restore physical activity levels.

objectiveWe hence hypothesized that surgery in obese and overweight patients may lead to significant weight loss by means of pain and disability reduction as well as restoration of physical activity. This study aims to investigate whether surgery for cervical spondylosis leads to postoperative weight changes in overweight and obese patients.

methodsThis is a retrospective longitudinal cohort study using prospective data. Obese and overweight patients who underwent surgery for cervical spondylosis in Sweden from 2005 to 2020, using the Swedish National Spine Register (SweSpine). Weight and BMI at both 1- and 2-years postoperatively were included in the analysis. Significant postoperative weight loss was considered as a loss of ≥ 5% of the initial preoperative weight and was the primary outcome of the study.

resultsOf the 4,231 patients included in the main analysis, 32% were obese and 68% overweight. At 1-year follow-up, 25% of obese and 15% of overweight patients showed significant weight loss (≥ 5%, average 7 kg), increasing to 28% and 19% respectively by 2 years (p < 0.001). Younger patients (< 60 years) were more likely to lose significant weight at 1 year compared to older patients (20% vs. 16%, p = 0.005). Predictors of significant weight loss included obesity (OR: 1.87), NDI (OR: 1.01), NRS arm pain score (OR: 1.03), and NRS neck pain score (OR: 1.03), while male sex was linked to a lower likelihood of weight loss (OR: 0.74). DISCUSSION: In conclusion, this study indicates that cervical spondylosis surgery may be associated with significant weight loss, particularly in younger and obese patients. Other predictors included higher preoperative pain and disability levels and female sex. Nonetheless, significant weight loss only occurred in a minority of patients. Future research should investigate the impact of a multidisciplinary approach on weight management and further examine additional predictive factors influencing weight loss.

Indexed as

Cervical VertebraeObesityOverweightSpondylosisWeight LossAdultAgedFemaleHumansLongitudinal StudiesMaleMiddle AgedRetrospective StudiesSwedenBMICentral cervical stenosisCervical spineDegenerativeDisc diseaseMyelopathySurgeryWeight loss

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.