We investigated the effects of early kinesitherapy for patients undergoing cervical laminoplasty. The subjects consisted of twenty-one males and eight females. The average age was 66.4 years. Twelve early stage patients used cervical collar for four weeks from operation. Seventeen late stage patients underwent early muscle training and ROM exercise of neck, and were able to remove their cervical collar after about ten days from operation.
We investigated the loss of the lordotic angle of the cervical spine and verbal rating scale (VRS) as a nuchal pain scale in the post operative period for all patients. No significant differences were seen in the loss of the lordotic angle between the early and late stages. The mean VRS was 2.4 points in the early stage, and 3.9 points in the late stage. Nuchal pain was significantly relieved in the late stage compared to early stage.
Early kinesitherapy after cervical laminoplasty is considered effective for the relief of nuchal pain.
