Cervical Laminectomy — Post-Op

Advanced Health and Sports Medicine Physiotherapy (AHSMP) · AHSMP Clinical Team (Sydney, Australia)

Weight-Bearing

WBAT; gentle walking <10 min Phase 1; progress to 20 min by wk 4

Key Restrictions

No neck bending/twisting x 2 wks; no lifting x 2 wks; log roll to get out of bed; avoid prolonged positions; lifting 10% BW wks 2-4, 15% wks 4-6, 20% wks 6-8; manual therapy to adjacent cervical segments only (avoid surgical segments); avoid passive cervical stretching

Timeline & Phases

6+ weekly phases: wks 1-2, 2-4, 4-6, 6-8, 8-12, 12+; PT 1-2x/wk throughout

Notes

International (Australia); May 2023; deep neck flexor (DNF) activation from Phase 1 (chin tucks seated and supine); Pilates reformer from wk 2; low-grade manual therapy to adjacent segments; criterion-based weekly progression; note: structurally identical to AHSMP CDA protocol — key clinical difference is laminectomy is posterior (avoid flexion) whereas AHSMP does not explicitly differentiate approach

Surgeon / Author

AHSMP Clinical Team (Sydney, Australia)

Published

May 2023