ANTERIOR CERVICAL DISCECTOMY AND ASSESSMENT OF PATIENTS' QUALITY OF LIFE

Background: Anterior cervical discectomy is among the surgeries that are frequently conducted on the cervical area of the vertebral column. Objective: Our study aimed to analysis the clinical findings of patients who underwent anterior cervical discectomy and assess the quality of life for patients after surgery. Patients and methods: A total of 76 patients who underwent anterior cervical discectomy surgery were included in the study, where their ages ranged between 35 and 75 years, with 76 cases included. The clinical, demographic, and surgical data for these patients were collected from different hospitals in Iraq over a period of time spanning from 6 July 2022 to 18 August 2023. This study aimed to determine the extent of recovery and quality of life of patients using both the Neck Disability Index (NDI) scale, where the scale ranged between 0 and 50 and included mild disability (0-15), moderate disability (16-30), and severe disability (31-50). The patients' quality of life questionnaire ranged from 0 to 100, with 0 indicating poor quality of life and 100 indicating optimal quality of life. Results: Our results found patients with ages (56 – 65) years had the most patients who perform anterior cervical discectomy, which include 31 cases; males had 46 cases and females 30 cases; the most symptoms were neck pain with 20 cases and arm pain with 17 cases, smokers had 45 cases, spondylosis included 25 cases, spinal stenosis included 23 cases, operative time was 254.68 ± 57.55 min, general anaesthesia included 57 cases, estimated blood loss was 136.48 ± 77.26, bleeding rate of cases had 16 cases, ICU admission included 6 cases, length of stay in hospital ranged between 2 - 4 days, the mortality rate was 2 cases, rate of complication was 27.63%, where the most factors had hoarseness had 7 cases and dysphagia with 5 cases. Conclusions: In general, the current study shows that anterior cervical discectomy surgery is the most successful and effective procedure in treating patients, resulting in improved quality of life, faster recovery, reduced pain, and comfort for patients after surgery.