Relationship between the cervical vertebra sickness with partial upper limb edema and the operation to reduce the cervical vertebra pressure / 中国矫形外科杂志

ABSTRACT

[Objective]To discuss the relationship between partial upper limb edema in the cervical spondylosis patients and the decompression operation.[Method]Ten cervical spondylosis cases with partial upper limb edema were reviewed,including 7 cases of cervical spondylotic myelopathy,2 cases of cervical radiculopathy and 1 case of OPLL(ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament).Seven cases were treated with subtotal vertebrectomy and anterior internal fixation,one with subtotal vertebrectomy and anterior discectomy,2 cases with posterior decompression and fusion.All the patients were available for follow-up to evaluate the decay of the edema.[Result]All the 10 patients' edema disappeared with the duration from one day to over half a year.The treatment of anterior surgery made patients' edema disappear quicker than that of posterior surgery.[Conclusion]The occurrence of the upper limb edema in the cervical spondylosis patients is related to do with the irritated sympathetic nerve.The edema can be reduced in short term after the decompression operation.