Water-soluble contrast medium for intraoperative evaluation of anterior cervical discectomy. Technical note

When anterior cervical discectomy is performed for either "hard" or "soft" cervical disc herniation using either the Cloward approach or simple discectomy, it is often difficult to confirm intraoperatively the adequacy of the lateral, superior, and inferior margins of the dissection. Placement of a nonionic contrast material, iohexol, into the disc space before obtaining anteroposterior and lateral x-ray spine films can indicate the adequacy of the margins of dissection of the soft disc or bone ridge to prevent a poor operative result.