[Surgical treatment of cervical intervertebral disk displacement]

The aim of operative treatment in degenerative cervical disc disease is the decompression of nerval structures. Generally this can be achieved either by an anterior or posterior approach. In our opinion the anterior way seems to be more favourable because the protruded vertebral disc can be totally removed in a direct approach. Besides this you can get a better survey of the spinal cord and the nerve roots. Fusion or not fusion after discectomy is discussed controversially. We prefer fusion to avoid pain caused by temporary instability. Since 1968 we treated 1,112 patients by this way and we used PMMA for fusion instead of a bone graft. No disadvantage of this method could be noticed. The results and complications are compared to those reported in the literature.