• Simon D Taylor-Robinson and Guglielmo Trovato.
• Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, London, UK.
• Patient Prefer Adher. 2021 Jan 1; 15: 245524582455-2458.

AbstractCervical disc prolapse can be accompanied by severe pain, numbness, paraesthesiae and muscle weakness. The choice lies between a conservative approach with physiotherapy and pain modulating drugs, such as gabapentin, or a more active surgical approach, ranging from nerve decompression through vertebral foraminotomy through to cervical disc replacement. We relate the experience of a medically qualified patient in having disc prolapse at three cervical levels and what it was like to experience a lonely and difficult post-surgical recovery. Despite this, the patient would still choose active surgical decompression over a non-interventional approach. The reasons for this are discussed from the patient perspective, of which there is little directly in the medical literature.© 2021 Taylor-Robinson and Trovato.

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