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[The assessment of the morphological changes after ventral diskectomy by thin-section computed tomography]
A Hutzelmann1, S Palmié, J Biederer
1Klinik für Radiologische Diagnostik, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel.
Purpose:
We examined the changes of the intervertebral body space, the morphology of bone cement interponates and vertebrae after cervical discectomy and ventral fusion with high resolution CT.
Materials And Methods:
CT scans were performed on 25 patients preoperatively, one week and six months after cervical discectomy and ventral fusion.
Results:
There was no change in the size of the interponates. During follow-up new ossifications were found in 18 of the patients, two of them with neurological deficits. While directly after surgery the sagittal spinal canal diameter was enlarged, six months later particularly the lateral width was found to be reduced. After surgery soft tissue already narrowed the spinal canal in similar shape as the former prolapse.
Conclusion:
We conclude that postoperative neurologic deficits can only be partially explained by the described structural changes, because similar findings were made in uncomplicated postoperative courses as well as in patients with deficits.