STUDY DESIGN: Systematic Literature Review and Patient-Information Scoping Review. OBJECTIVES: To assess the evidence on prehabilitation and post-operative rehabilitation interventions for people undergoing surgery for degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM) and to determine what publicly accessible information is provided to patients from the NHS surrounding DCM surgery. METHODS: A systematic literature review was searched from inception to 19 May 2025. Studies reporting pain, function, disability or quality of life for prehabilitation or post-operative rehabilitation interventions for people undergoing DCM surgery were eligible. Downs and Black appraisal tool was used to assess study quality. Data were analysed in a narrative analysis. Secondary, a review of UK NHS Patient Information Documents (PID) was searched using a Google platform assessment. PID reporting prehabilitation or post-operative information for people awaiting DCM surgery were included. The type of information being provided were extracted and descriptive statistics were used to report frequency of information provision. RESULTS: From 5218 screened studies, six studies (n = 685) met the eligibility criteria. The evidence was low to moderate in quality. Rehabilitation offered demonstrated improved clinical outcomes but there was limited evidence compared to non-rehabilitation or superiority between different rehabilitation strategies. The PID review identified 38 documents. This indicates education and guidance is commonly offered on returning to work (68%), driving (76%) and normal activities of daily living (63%). CONCLUSION: There remains uncertainty on what should be and is offered to patients with DCM in respect to prehabilitation or post-operative rehabilitation. Robust clinical trial evidence on rehabilitation approaches for this population is needed. REGISTRATION: PROSPERO (CRD42024604184).
Reprinted by permission from Spinal Cord, Macmillan Publishers Ltd.

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