Fixation of the cervical spine using a titanium plate

Surgery of the cervical spine has been developing since the early twentieth century, but significant progress began with the appearance of the anterior approach, thanks to Bailley, Bedgley and Cloward, who developed a special set of instruments to facilitate operations using the anterior approach. In 1967 Haftek became the first surgeon to perform this operation in Poland; since that time the anterior approach has come to be in more and more general use. The first goal of the operation is to remove fragments of bone and intervertebral discs compressing the spinal cord; the second goal is to achieve good fixation of the operated segment of the cervical spine. In the earlier period external immobilization was applied, using campolite collars, Florida collars, Schanz collars, or HALO stabilizers. Currently immobilizing is done with titanium plates, which are well suited to the purpose of internal fixation of the spine.