Abstract
vertebral bodies had to be removed.This study evaluates and compares longterm clinical and radiological results.Materials and Methods: A retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data of all cases of a single-center from July 2008 to March 2019 revealed 184 patients with 2 to 4 corpectomies.Pre-and postoperative data, as well as intraoperative parameters, were analyzed.Patients were divided into 2 groups; group 1 had 2level corpectomy and group 2 had three or more levels corpectomy.Results: Group1 of double level corpectomy had 138 patients, group2 with 3 and 4 corpectomies had 46 patients.there were 83 males and 55 females in group 1 and in group2 there were 29 males and 17 females.Stand-alone reconstruction in group1 was performed in 122 patients, whereas 12 in the same anesthesia got additional posterior instrumentation.In 4 patients a posterior fixation was added in a second stage.In group 2, 32 patients got a stand-alone reconstruction, whereas 8 were simultaneously instrumented additionally from the posterior.In six individuals a posterior fixation was performed in separate anesthesia.The mean age at surgery was identical in the two groups (65.11 years).The mean surgery time was 196 min in group1 and 237 min in group 2. The mean blood loss 730 ml, including 12 patients with additional posterior fixation.After a mean follow-up of 37 Æ13 months, bony fusion was in 84% of the patients after a mean of 9 Æ3 months.Significant improvement of VAS and NDI (mean 6.4, 15.3 to a mean 2.7, 9.8) p¼0.00.lordosis correction from 5.5 Æ9 to 9.7 Æ7 (p¼.03).Postoperative hematoma in 4 patients, C5 radiculopathy in 4 patients, and recurrent laryngeal injury in 2 patients.Conclusions: Anterior cervical corpectomy and reconstruction using a standalone cage are safe for long-segment degenerative cervical pathology.For 3 and 4 levels corpectomy a stand-alone cage is possible with a high fusion rate.In cases with instability or significant osteoporosis, a combined posterior fixation is recommended.