To investigate whether surgery is appropriate for elderly rheumatoid arthritis patients who are already approaching their statistical life expectancy.
The subjects were 10 patients who underwent cervical spine surgery for rheumatoid arthritis at an age of over 70 yr. The pain grade and neurological deficit class according to Ranawat, peri-operative complications, causes of death and pre-operative cardiopulmonary function were assessed.
Good pain relief was achieved. Relief of pain enabled the patients, who could not sit up even in bed because of intolerable neck pain, to ride in a wheel chair without using a neck collar. Only one death was related to surgery. Pre-operative cardiopulmonary function was not significantly different compared with that of elderly patients undergoing other surgical procedures.
Surgery is a valuable option for the management of elderly patients with rheumatoid cervical spine since it can improve the quality of life.