Anterior surgical options for the treatment of cervical spondylotic myelopathy in a long-term follow-up study

Objective

To provide a basis for the choice of anterior surgery procedures in the treatment of cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) through long-term follow-up.

Methods

A consecutive series of 89 patients with CSM having complete follow-up data were analyzed retrospectively. All patients were treated with anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF), and anterior cervical corpectomy and fusion (ACCF) from July 2000 to June 2007. The lesions were located in one segment (n = 25), two segments (n = 56), and three segments (n = 8). Preoperative and postoperative, the C2–C7 angle, cervical intervertebral height, radiographic fusion status, result of the adjacent segment degeneration, the Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA), and the Short Form 36-item (SF36) questionnaire scores were used to evaluate the efficacy of the surgery.

Results

According to the different compression conditions of the 89 cases, different anterior operation procedures were chosen and satisfactory results were achieved, indicating that direct anterior decompressions were thorough and effective. The follow-up period was 60–108 months, and the average was 79.6 months. The 5-year average symptom improvement rate, effectiveness rate, and fineness rate were 78.36 %, 100 % (89/89), and 86.52 % (77/89), respectively.

Conclusions

For CSM with compression coming from the front side, proper anterior decompression based on the specific conditions could directly eliminate the compression. Through long-term follow-up, the effect of decompression became observable.