Anterior Cervical Discectomy

Between February-1, 1977 and August-31, 1981, 46 patients underwent anterior cervical discectomy without interbody fusion for the treatment of the cervical disc protrusion. Of these patients, 40 patients who were followed up for more than 6 months after surgery were analyzed. 1. 87.5% of patients had good or excellent clinical results(93.3% in soft disc patients and 84% in hard disc patients). 2. 92.5% of patients revealed good or excellent alignment of the cervical spine and none were worsen. 3. The incidence of anatomical fusion was 20% by a year and 30% by 1-2 years. Comparing with the anterior interbody fusion, the simple discectomy is technically simpler and show similar clinical results.