A retrospective mid-term study on the application of anchoring cervical intervertebral fusion cage

English Keywords:Cervical vertebrae  Anchoring cervical intervertebral fusion cage  Spinal fusion  Mid-term followup

English Abstract:

  【Abstract】 Objective：To study the mid-term outcome of clinical application of the anchoring cervical intervertebral fusion cage（ACIFC） following anterior cervical discectomy.Method：42 cases with cervical disorders from October 2006 to February 2008 were reviewed retrospectively.There were 22 males and 20 females with the age of 25-69 years old（mean，48.2 years old）.Of the 31 cases，there were 14 with cervical spondylotic myelopathy，9 with cervical spondylotic radiculopathy，and 8 with mixed type of cervical spondylosis.4 cases suffered from lower cervical instability，5 cases from acute cervical disc herniation and 2 cases from Klippel-Feil syndrome.All cases underwent anterior discectomy，ACIFC fusion.The fusion segments included 27 single-segment，14 two-segments and 1 three-segments.A total of 58 cages were implanted，which included 11 C3/4；13 C4/5；18 C5/6；14 C6/7 and 12 C7/T1.There were 40 primary and 2 revision surgeries.Radiographs were taken routinely to determine the fusion and adjacent segment degeneration（ASD）.The neurofunction and life quality at preoperation and follow-up were evaluated by Chinese Orthopaedic Association（COA） 40 score and neck disability index（NDI）.Result：5 patients were complicated with pharyngis pain in 24 hours after operation，and relieved 7 days later after corresponding intervention.Axial symptoms（AS） were found in 2 patients（3.4%） in 48 hours after operation，and relieved 7 days later.All patients were followed up for an average of 4 years（range，3-4.5 years）.Bony union was achieved in all cases with the mean of 3.5 months（range 2.5-6 months）.Significant difference was noted on COA score between preoperation（30.21±2.69） and final follow-up（37.18±1.20）（P<0.05）.The mean improve rate was 71.2%.And there were significant differences on NDI between preoperation（40.03±3.92） and final follow-up（29.95±4.51）（P<0.05）.5 cases（11.9%） were complicated with ASD in 3.5-4.5 years（mean，4 years） follow-up，which included 3 caudal and 2 distal.Conclusion：A satisfactory mid-term outcome for cervical spinal disease can be obtained by using ACIFC in operation of anterior cervical discectomy with fusion.And the higher fusion rate and lower AS or ASD can be also obtained.