Enhancement of stability following anterior cervical corpectomy: a biomechanical study

An in vitro biomechanical study of various reconstructive techniques following decompression of the spondylotic cervical spine. OBJECTIVE.: To evaluate the biomechanical stability of anterior cervical plate fixation following three strategies of decompression for multilevel cervical spondylosis (three levels) of the cervical spine: three level discectomy, single corpectomy and discectomy, and a two-level corpectomy.

The main goals of surgical treatment for cervical myelopathy include adequate decompression and stabilization while maintaining or restoring cervical lordosis. Cervical decompression is often performed through a corpectomy followed by strut-graft reconstruction. An anterior cervical plate with end-fixation (two points of fixation) is then used to span the construct. The authors propose an alternative to multilevel corpectomy and long-segment end construct plate fixation. Often times, the cervical stenosis is confined to the area of the degenerative discs. As a result, the authors feel that either multilevel discectomy or a corpectomy combined with discectomy followed by segmental plate fixation may provide adequate decompression with increased biomechanical rigidity as compared to cervical plate-constructs with end-fixation only.

Seven human cadaveric fresh-frozen cervical spines from C1-T1 were utilized. Three-dimensional motion analysis with an optical tracking device was used to determine motion following various reconstruction methods. All seven cervical spines underwent testing in a randomized order. The end construct model consisted of a corpectomy at C4 and C5 with a polymethyl methacrylate strut graft and an anterior cervical PEAK (DePuy-AcroMed) plate. The two segmental constructs also utilized the PEAK plate with one construct undergoing discectomies at C3-C4, C4-C5, and C5-C6 with polymethyl methacrylate interbody grafts and the other segmental construct undergoing a discectomy at C3-C4 and a corpectomy of C5. All specimens underwent a pure moment application of 2 Nm with regards to flexion-extension, lateral bending, and axial rotation. RESULTS.: The three-level discectomy and combined one-level discectomy and corpectomy with segmental fixation was significantly more rigid in flexion-extension and lateral bending than the two-level corpectomy with end-construct plate fixation (P < 0.05). There was no increase in stability during extension between the end construct (two-level corpectomy) reconstruction model and the un-instrumented corpectomy and grafted specimen. No difference was noted between the segmental constructs and the end-construct with regards to axial rotation.

Cervical myelopathy is traditionally treated with a multilevel corpectomy and an end-construct plate fixation spanning the strut graft. A large moment arm is generated at the ends of the construct, potentially leading to plate migration or dislodgment. Often times, adequate decompression can be achieved with either a multilevel discectomy or a combined discectomy and corpectomy with segmental plate fixation. This study clearly demonstrates that segmental plate fixation affords a more biomechanically rigid method of reconstruction with regards to flexion-extension and lateral bending than end-construct plate fixation. The increased rigidity afforded by segmental fixation may significantly decrease the likelihood of plate dislodgement in the setting of anterior instrumentation alone following anterior alone, long segment reconstruction procedures.