Table 2. Studies comparing the use of miniplates with no plates for cervical laminoplasty: characteristics of included studies.

Investigator (y) Study design CoE	Demographicsa	Diagnosis	Laminoplasty with miniplates	Laminoplasty with no plates	Follow-up (% followed up)	Reported outcomes	Post-op care (collar, orthosis, and mobilization)
Wang et al9 RCT CoE: II	N = 49 Age (mean): 60.0 y (36–76) Male: 63%	CSM (n = 28), OPLL (n = 9), or CDH (n = 12) Symptom duration (mean): NR	Open door with titanium miniplates (n = 25) Treated levels: C3–C7 Number of plates used: five per patient	Open door with sutures (n = 24) Treated levels: C3–C7	21.2 ± 2.1 mo (98)	Complications JOA axial pain (VAS) SF-36 C2–C7 angle	Patients with plates: collar worn for 2 weeks, then gradual mobilization in flexion-extension, rotation, and side bending Patients with no plates: collar worn for 6 weeks, then gradual mobilization
Jiang et al10 Retrospective cohort CoE: III	N = 61 Age (mean): 58 y (41–81) Male: 66%	CSM with multilevel spinal stenosis (n = 34) or OPLL (n = 27) Symptom duration (mean): NR	Open door with titanium miniplates (n = 38) Treated levels: C3–C7 Number of plates used (number of patients): 2 plates (n = 6), 3 plates (n = 27), 4 plates (n = 3), and 5 plates (n = 2)	Open door with sutures (n = 21) Treated levels: C3–C7	20 months (13–39) (80.3)	JOA Spinal canal expansion Axial symptoms Cervical spine ROM Complications, including hardware failure	Patients allowed to sit up or walk between 3 and 5 days postoperative Cervical brace worn for 3 months

Abbreviations: CDH, cervical disc herniation; CoE, class of evidence; CSM, cervical spondylotic myelopathy; JOA, Japanese Orthopedic Association score; NR, not reported; OPLL, ossification of posterior longitudinal ligament; RCT, randomized controlled trial; SF-36, short form 36 health survey questionnaire; VAS, visual analog scale.

^aDemographics reflect the number of patients after loss to follow-up (n = 49).⁹