Authors: LiYang Dai LeiSheng Jiang
Publish Date: 2008/02/27
Volume: 17, Issue: 5, Pages: 698-705
Abstract
A variety of bone graft substitutes interbody cages and anterior plates have been used in cervical interbody fusion but no controlled study was conducted on the clinical performance of βtricalcium phosphate βTCP and the effect of supplemented anterior plate fixation The objective of this prospective randomized clinical study was to evaluate the effectiveness of implanting interbody fusion cage containing βTCP for the treatment of cervical radiculopathy and/or myelopathy and the fusion rates and outcomes in patients with or without randomly assigned plate fixation Sixtytwo patients with cervical radiculopathy and/or myelopathy due to soft disc herniation or spondylosis were treated with one or twolevel discectomy and fusion with interbody cages containing βTCP They were randomly assigned to receive supplemented anterior plate n = 33 or not n = 29 The patients were followed up for 2 years postoperatively The radiological and clinical outcomes were assessed during a 2year followup The results showed that the fusion rate 750 3 months after surgery in patients treated without anterior cervical plating was significantly lower than that 979 with plate fixation P 005 but successful bone fusion was achieved in all patients of both groups at 6month followup assessment Patients treated without anterior plate fixation had 11 of 52 192 cage subsidence at last followup No difference P 005 was found regarding improvement in spinal curvature as well as neck and arm pain and recovery rate of JOA score at all time intervals between the two groups Based on the findings of this study interbody fusion cage containing βTCP following one or twolevel discectomy proved to be an effective treatment for cervical spondylotic radiculopathy and/or myelopathy Supplemented anterior plate fixation can promote interbody fusion and prevent cage subsidence but do not improve the 2year outcome when compared with those treated without anterior plate fixation
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