Ultrasonic Osteotome in Posterior Endoscopic Cervical Discectomy for Cervical Radiculopathy

The ultrasonic osteotome, as a novel osteotomy system, demonstrates unique advantages in posterior endoscopic cervical discectomy (PECD), though its technical implementation remains challenging. Accumulated evidence has validated the safety profile of this device in spinal surgery. Meta-analysis has revealed its superior efficacy in enhancing decompression efficiency, reducing intraoperative blood loss, and shortening operative duration compared to conventional high-speed burrs. Notably, no significant differences were observed in symptom improvement rates, hospital stay duration, or postoperative complication incidence between the two techniques. This study provides a video-documented technical protocol for ultrasonic osteotome utilization in PECD, demonstrating successful clinical implementation in a patient with cervical radiculopathy. We enrolled a 62-year-old female patient who presented with a 10-year history of left-sided cervical and upper back pain. She was admitted for surgery following a recent exacerbation that was accompanied by numbness and pain in her left upper limb. The duration of the surgical procedure was 109 minutes. The patient was mobilized with the help of a standard cervical brace on postoperative day 1. The patient demonstrated significant resolution of left-sided neck pain (preoperative visual analog scale [VAS] score 6, decreasing to 1) and left upper limb radiculopathy. Postoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) confirmed adequate nerve root decompression, with significant symptom resolution and absence of device-related complications such as dural tears or neurological deficits. These findings substantiate the technical feasibility and procedural reliability of the ultrasonic osteotome in endoscopic cervical spine surgery.