Clinical outcomes of multilevel anterior corpectomy and fusion as a revision surgery of the cervical spine: report of seven cases.

STUDY

DESIGN

Report of seven cases.

OBJECTIVE

There is no general consensus on the best surgical procedures for late-onset complications of cervical operations. We reported seven patients who had been treated effectively by multilevel anterior corpectomy and fusion (ACF) as revision surgery of the cervical spine.

SETTING

Gifu University Hospital, Gifu, Japan.

METHOD: Multilevel ACF using autogenous fibular strut graft as revision surgery was performed on seven patients: four patients having disorders of adjacent discs after anterior discectomy and fusion and three patients having postlaminoplasty disorders. Japanese Orthopedic Association scores (JOA scores) of the cervical myelopathy and severity of radicular and axial pains were used to evaluate outcomes.

RESULTS

Rigid osseous fusion was achieved in all patients. JOA scores of the cervical myelopathy and the radicular pain, which had worsened just before the revision surgery, were improved significantly.

CONCLUSION

In the present seven patients who had variety of pathological conditions with various previous surgeries, multilevel ACF using strut graft was effective as a revision procedure in ameliorating their symptoms.