[Surgical approach to radicular pain of the degenerative cervical spine]

Radicular pain is a common feature in day-to-day clinical practice. Only a small percentage of patients with persistent pain and/or neurological deficit need surgical decompression. Exact anatomical localization of the decompressive agent and the correlation of clinical symptoms and radiological findings are mandatory. In most cases, surgery is performed by an anterior approach; by which the causative agent is removed. In cases with narrowing of the neuroforamen total resection of the uncus is indicated. Additional fusion supports the physiological cervical lordosis.