Treatment of spondylogenic cervical myelopathy

The study objective was to analyze the results of cervical laminoplasty in treatment of compressive cervical myelopathy and evaluate intraoperative risks and outcomes.Experience of surgical treatment of 30 patients (mean age of 59.4 years) with cervical stenosis complicated by myelopathy was analyzed. Hirabayashi laminoplasty was performed in 26 patients, and Kurokawa laminoplasty was performed in 4 patients. All patients were diagnosed with extensive spinal stenosis at the cervical level. The diagnosis was made based on the results of complex survey, including dynamic clinical and neurological examination, X-ray, CT, MRI, somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEPs), and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). The Nurick scale, Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score, and Recovery Rate scale were used to evaluate severity of myelopathy; the Visual Analog Scale was used to evaluate postoperative axial pain. The indications and contraindications for laminoplasty were determined. Early and long-term (> 3 years) outcomes of the clinical status and radiographic and neuroimaging indicators were evaluated. Laminoplasty, having a number of advantages, is the method of choice in the treatment of extensive spondylogenic cervical stenosis. Proper selection of patients based on clinical symptoms, assessment of the stenosis length, and data of neurological examination and neuroimaging enable achieving excellent outcomes of laminoplasty. The surgery is optimal for the older age group (> 60 years).