Characteristics of the studies included in the meta-analysis
| Yearref | Design | Sample size | Mean age (years) | Gender (M/F) | Mean follow-up time (months) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACCF | ACDF | ACCF | ACDF | ACCF | ACDF | ACCF | ACDF | ||
| 20099 | RCT | 17 | 14 | 55.12 | 52.64 | 16/15 | 27.33 | 24.9 | |
| 200710 | Quasi-RCT | 20 | 20 | 53.1±8.98 | 52.75±7.81 | 14/6 | 15/5 | NA | |
| 201111 | RCT | 23 | 23 | 54.4±10.9 | 56.5±9.2 | 18/5 | 16/7 | 31 (25–53) | 29 (26–48) |
| 201012 | Retro | 52 | 45 | 49.4±8.7 | 49.3±9.7 | 30/22 | 17/28 | 23.3±6.6 | 25.7±6.2 |
| 200113 | Retro | 20 | 32 | 51.5 (17–80) | 27/25 | 43.2 (24–84) | |||
| 201314 | Retro | 38 | 80 | 60.3±11.1 | 60.9±9.9 | 25/13 | 41/39 | 20.4±13.7 | |
| 201215 | Retro | 48 | 62 | 59.3±6.8 (49–75) | 65/45 | 32±4.2 (24–60) | |||
| 201216 | Retro | 36 | 31 | 48.83±8.12 | 49.12±7.65 | 21/15 | 17/14 | 28.96±13.21 | 26.81±11.02 |
| 201217 | Retro | 16 | 54 | 58±8.6 | 56.7±10.2 | 13/3 | 31/23 | 20±11.9 | 18.6±11.5 |
Retro meant retrospective, Mean age was described as mean±SD or mean or mean (range) of all patients in the study or mean±SD of all patients in the study, gender was described as M/F or M/F of all patients in the study, Mean follow-up time was presented as mean±SD or mean (range) or mean±SD of all patients in the study.
ACCF, anterior cervical corpectomy and fusion; ACDF, anterior cervical discectomy and fusion; NA, not available; RCT, randomised control trial.