Anterior Cervical Corpectomy; Evaluation of the Outcome

Background: Anterior cervical surgery now represents one of the most frequently performed spinal procedures. Although a majority of these procedures are localized to the intervertebral disc space, removal of a vertebra or several vertebrae may be indicated if the site of epidural compression extends beyond the level of a disc space. Objectives: The aim of this work is to evaluate the clinical and radiological outcome of the anterior cervical corpectomy in the management of different lesions of the cervical spine. Patiens and methods: This is a retrospective study included 30 patients underwent cervical corpectomy for the treatment of trauma (18 cases), degenerative spondylitic disease (8 cases), infection (three cases) and ossification of posterior longitudinal ligament (one case). Twenty one patients underwent one-level corpectomy and nine patients underwent two levels corpectomy. Results: Patients’ ages ranged from 18 to 65 years (mean 37.4 years); 17 patients were males. According to Odom’s criteria, the results were excellent in 5 patients, good in 8 patients, and fair in 10 patients at the 1-month follow-up. At the last follow-up; the results were excellent in 6 patients, good in 13 patients, fair in 6 patient and poor in five patients. Conclusion: Advances in surgical techniques and spinal stabilization methods have expanded the role of corpectomy for the management of various degenerative, traumatic or infectious disorders of cervical spine.