Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of rehabilitative treatment for severe cervical spondylotic myeiopathy after combined posterior-anterior surgery. Methods Fifty-four patients (mean age, 59.5) who had undergone combined posterlor-anterior surgery of the cervical spine due to severe cervical spondylotic myelopathy were studied with an average follow-up of 38.7 months. All the patients were allocated into either a rehabilitation treatment group (28 patients) or a control group (26 patients). Neurological function in the two groups was assessed using the Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) grading system. In addition, the status of axial symptoms, wound healing and post-operative complications were also evaluated. Results The bone grafts completely fused in both groups. All of the wounds in the rehabilitation treatment group healed without any infection. Three wounds were infected in the control group, but were cured by prompt treatment. Two patients in the rehabilitation group and 9 in the control group suffered laryngeal edema. There was no significant difference between the two groups before the operation with regard to their JOA scores, which significantly increased postoperation in both groups. In the rehabilitation treatment group, the postoperation JOA scores were significantly higher than in the control group. At the same time, there were significantly fewer patients with neck axial symptoms in the rehabilitation treatment group than that in the control group (25.0% versus 69.2% , P < 0.01 ). Conclusions Systematic rehabilitation treatment pro-and post-operation of patients with severe cervical spondylotie myelopathy can accelerate neurological recovery and help prevent postoperative complications and neck axial symptoms.