The application of a zero-profile implant in anterior cervical discectomy and fusion.

We analyzed the clinical efficacy of the Zero-P implant (Synthes GmbH Switzerland, Oberdorf, Switzerland) in the treatment of single level cervical spondylotic myelopathy. The clinical data of 47 patients with single level cervical spondylotic myelopathy were retrospectively analyzed. Twenty-two patients were treated with a Zero-P implant (Group A) and 25 with a titanium plate with cage (Group B) between January 2009 and September 2010. Operative time, intraoperative blood loss, preoperative and postoperative Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) scores and JOA recovery rate, dysphagia incidence and adjacent segment degeneration rate were measured. The mean operative time in Group A and Group B was 98.18 minutes and 105.4 minutes, respectively. The average intraoperative blood loss in Group A and Group B was 87.95 ml and 92.4 ml, respectively. There were no statistical differences in operation time and intraoperative blood loss between the two groups (p>0.05). The JOA score was significantly improved in the two groups (p<0.001), and the recovery rate was similar (60.86% for Group A versus 62.95% for Group B, p>0.05). Dysphagia was experienced by one (4.5%) patient in Group A and eight (32%) patients in Group B, which was significantly different (p=0.044). There was no statistical significance found in the adjacent level degeneration rates between Group A and Group B (p=0.330). The Zero-P implant and traditional titanium plate with cage are effective treatments for single level cervical spondylotic myelopathy, but the Zero-P implant has a lower dysphagia incidence.