COMPLICATIONS OF THE ANTERIOR APPROACH TO THE CERVICAL SPINE AND THEIR PREVENT-ION AND TREATMENT / 解放军医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Complications of anterior approach to the cervical spine ara encountered during exposure,spinal procedure, interbody fusion and the postoperative period. 200 cases of such operative procedure observed by the authors are analyzed, and they are divided into following two types1.Operative injuries Include the following(1)Recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy;(2) Homer's syndrome; (3) spinal cord and nerve root injury; (4) cere-brospinal fluid fistula; (5) sleepinduced apnea, and others.2. Postoperative complications include (1) postoperative hematoma; (2) failure of bony fusion, nonunion and anterior angulation deformity; (3) laryngo-spasm; (4) infection of the operative wound; (5) persistent pain of the iliac donor site.It is the opinion of the authors that the anterior approach to the cervical spine invites less serious complications than the posterior approach, and It should be employed more extensively for degenerative and traumatic disorders of the cervical spine.