Symptom duration and postoperative outcomes in degenerative cervical myelopathy: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Surgical decompression is regarded as standard treatment for degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM). However, the timing of surgery remains a critical yet unresolved issue in clinical practice. Therefore, this meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the impact of symptom duration on surgical outcomes and determine the optimal timing for surgery.

A systematic search was conducted on 16th November 2025 using PubMed, Ovid, Scopus, and Web of Science databases to identify eligible articles. Studies comprising patients with DCM undergoing surgery, assessing outcome by mJOA score at a minimum of 12 months of follow-up, were included. A risk of bias in the included studies was assessed using the Quality in Prognostic Studies (QUIPS) tool.