Gait in Adult Patients With Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of cervical decompression surgery on the biomechanics of the lower extremities and spine during balance and gait in patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM), before and after surgical intervention, and compare these parameters to an asymptomatic control group. To test our hypothesis that cervical decompression will improve preexisting gait disturbance, a gait analysis using dynamic surface EMG, video motion capture, and force plate analysis will be used. Patients 30 to 70 years old will be eligible for the study. Thirty subjects diagnosed with symptomatic CSM and are deemed appropriate surgical candidates, along with 30 healthy subjects with no spine pathology, will be enrolled in this study. Exclusion criteria include any history of previous lumbar/thoracic surgery or lower extremity surgery, BMI greater than 35, or currently pregnant. Each subject from the surgical group will be evaluated on 3 different occasions: 1) 1 week before surgery, 2) 3 months postoperative, and 3) 12 months postoperative. Control subject will only be evaluated once. Bilateral trunk and lower extremity neuromuscular activity will be measured during a full gait cycle using dynamic surface EMG measurements. Human video motion capture cameras will collect lumbar spine and lower and upper extremity joint angles. Ground reaction forces (GRFs) will be collected from a 5 foot stretch of force platforms in order to define a full gait cycle.