Turkish Neurosurgery 2000 , Vol 10 , Num 1-2
SURGICAL TREATMENT OF POSTLAMINECTOMY CERVICAL KYPHOSIS
Vehbi GÜLMEN, Mehmet ZİLELİ
Ege University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Neurosurgery, Bornova, İzmir, Turkey Multilevel cervical laminectomy may cause cervical kyphosis in adults afflicted with preoperative instability or deformity in this part of the spine. The laminectomy procedure may also lead to cervical kyphosis in children who have no preoperative instability or deformity. This paper describes four cases of postlaminectomy cervical kyphosis that were surgically treated via an anterior approach with anterior decompression, fusion, and plating. Two of the patients were children when they underwent laminectomy. Three of the four patients showed clinical improvement. This report stresses the importance of considering posterior fusion when multilevel laminectomy is performed, in order to prevent cervical kyphosis. We recommend anterior decompression and fusion with plating as the best treatment for postlaminectomy cervical kyphosis. Keywords : Anterior fusion, cervical laminectomy, cervical kyphosis, posterior fusion
Corresponding author : Mehmet Zileli, zileli@med.ege.edu.tr