Differences between subtotal corpectomy and laminoplasty for cervical spondylotic myelopathy

This study aimed to obtain guidelines for choosing between subtotal corpectomy (SC) and laminoplasty (LP) by analysing the surgical outcomes, radiological changes and problems associated with each surgical modality.

A retrospective analysis of two interventional case series.

Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Kagawa University, Japan.

Subjects comprised 34 patients who underwent SC and 49 patients who underwent LP. SC was performed by high-speed drilling to remove vertebral bodies. Autologous strut bone grafting was used. LP was performed as an expansive open-door LP. The level of decompression was from C3 to C7. Clinical evaluations included recovery rate (RR), frequency of C5 root palsy after surgery, re-operation and axial pain. Radiographic assessments included sagittal cervical alignment and bone union.

Comparisons between the two groups showed no significant differences in age at surgery, preoperative factors, RR and frequency of C5 palsy. Progression of kyphotic changes, operation time and volumes of blood loss and blood transfusion were significantly greater in the SC (two- or three-level) group. Six patients in the SC group required additional surgery because of pseudoarthrosis, and four patients underwent re-operation because of adjacent level disc degeneration. In the LP group, the problem of elimination of postoperative axial symptoms remains to be solved.

The merit of SC is the low frequency of axial symptoms. One-level SC can be considered to have similar degree of invasiveness as LP. Compared with SC, LP is more suitable for elderly patients with multilevel stenosis.