2016 AAOS Annual Meeting: Anterior Cervical Spine Surgery, Dysphagia, and Steroids: A Randomized, Prospective, Blinded Study

64 patients undergoing cervical decompression and fusion for cervical spine degeneration were included in this study to evaluate the effect of perioperative steroids on postoperative dysphagia. Patients were randomized to either a perioperative infusion group or a placebo group. The results of this trial indicated that perioperative steroids improved Dysphagia Short Questionnaire results at 1 day, 2 days, 2 weeks and 3 months time points as well as swallowing function at 2 days, 2 weeks and 6 months time points in comparison to placebo. There were no differences in short-term complications or hospital stay between groups.