Cervical Movement Control Before and After Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion

Recruiting now · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Cervical Vertebral Disc Degeneration, Intervertebral Disc Displacement

In brief

Degenerative cervical disc disease can cause neck pain, nerve symptoms, dizziness, and problems with balance and head movement control. The neck contains many sensory receptors that provide information about head position and movement to the brain. When cervical discs degenerate or compress nearby structures, this sensory communication may be disrupted. As a result, patients may experience reduced accuracy and coordination of head movements. Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) is a standard surgical procedure used to relieve nerve or spinal cord compression caused by cervical disc disease. The procedure is effective in reducing pain and neurological symptoms. However, it is not well understood whether ACDF also improves the way the neck and nervous system work together to control head movement. The purpose of this study is to evaluate early changes in cervical movement control after ACDF. Patients scheduled for ACDF will be assessed before surgery and again one week after surgery. A group of healthy participants without neck pain will be assessed at the same time interval for comparison. Cervical movement control will be measured using a computer-based head-tracking task. During this task, participants follow a moving target on a screen using controlled head movements. The system records measures of tracking accuracy and timing. The primary research question is whether ACDF results in measurable short-term improvements in objective cervical movement control compared with healthy individuals over the same time period. It is hypothesized that patients undergoing ACDF will demonstrate improvement in specific movement-control measures after surgery. However, broader patterns of movement-control impairment may not fully normalize in the early postoperative period. The results of this study may improve understanding of how cervical spine surgery affects sensorimotor function and may help inform postoperative rehabilitation strategies.

Key facts

Study ID: NCT07425613
Run by: University of Ljubljana
People needed: 30
Starts: 2026-02-20
Expected to finish: 2026-03-30
Last updated by the study team: 2026-02-23

Who can join

Age: 18 and older, up to 65. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

Surgical group:
Age 18 to 65 years
Clinical diagnosis of cervical disc pathology at one segment level (e.g., cervical disc herniation or degenerative disc disease)
Scheduled to undergo anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) as part of standard clinical care
Ability to understand study procedures and provide written informed consent
Non-Surgical neck pain group:
Age 18 to 65 years
Clinical diagnosis of neck pain associated with cervical disc pathology
Not undergoing surgical treatment during the study period
Ability to understand study procedures and provide written informed consent

You may not qualify if…

Prior cervical spine surgery
Diagnosed neurological disorders unrelated to cervical disc pathology (e.g., multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, stroke)
Known vestibular disorders affecting balance
Severe uncorrected visual impairment
Acute musculoskeletal injury of the neck or upper limb unrelated to the primary cervical condition
Inability to perform the head-tracking task
Cognitive impairment preventing informed consent

Where it is running

Faculty of Sport, University of Ljubljana — Ljubljana, Slovenia (enrolling)

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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