Abstract
Introduction:: Anterior cervical discectomy is a surgical procedure performed to treat a herniated/degenerated disc in the cervical region. There have been various studies comparing arthrodesis rates among various procedures. Our patients belonged to varied socioeconomic background and underwent anterior cervical microdiscectomy without/with instrumentation. Aim:: The present study was performed to study and compare the arthrodesis rates in the patients operated for anterior cervical microdiscectomy with and without fusion/instrumentation procedures at our institution. Materials and Methods:: This is a retrospective study performed at Vydehi Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Bengaluru. Pre- and post-operative X-rays were assessed in 96 patients who had undergone anterior cervical discectomy with/without fusion from June 2012 to June 2015. Radiographic arthrodesis was assessed in all patients. An arbitrary grading was designed by us and categorized into Grade I to IV. The criteria considered for adequate arthrodesis in this study were: (a) <2 movement on dynamic X-rays, (b) restored disc space height (2 mm accepted), and (c) evidence of solid bone mass around disc space. Arthrodesis was categorized as Grade I if all the above 3 criteria on X-rays was fulfilled, Grade II if any 2 of the criteria was fulfilled, Grade III if any 1 of the criteria was fulfilled, and Grade IV when pseudoarthrosis/none of the criteria was fulfilled. Grade I arthrodesis was noted in about 79 patients (82.2%), Grade II in 14 patients, and only 3 patients had Grade III arthrodesis. There were no patients with absent arthrodesis/pseudoarthrosis. Results:: Satisfactory arthrodesis was noted in 82% of the total patients, with patients undergoing fusion instrumentation procedure having better results. Conclusions:: Arthrodesis by an interbody graft/implant with/without plating increases chances of success as compared to anterior cervical discectomy alone. Patients should be motivated for any of the available options for fusion/instrumentation
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This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives License, which permits unrestricted reproduction and distribution, for non-commercial purposes only; and use and reproduction, but not distribution, of adapted material for non-commercial purposes only, provided the original work is properly cited.
