2Erciyes Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi, Nöroşirurji Anabilim Dalı, Kayseri, Türkiye OBJECTIVE: A variety of treatment approaches is carried out for the therapy of cervical spondioltic myelopathy. Posterior approaches are mostly preferred in the cases where a posterior compression is present. Extensive muscle dissection is required for the posterior approaches, which may result in muscular atrophy, cervical pains, and kyphosis. In this study, we present cervical arcocristectomy technique which is developed to prevent the complications mentioned above in conjuction with the literature.
METHOD: Arcocristectomy is revealing the dura and enlarging the spinal cord by removing the upper part of cervical laminae together with ligamentum flavum. 11 cases during the last two years from our Neurosurgery clinic were included in this study.
RESULTS: Sufficient decompression has been observed to be done in all cases. With the method of arcocristectomy, supraspinous, interspinous ligaments and the half of cervical laminae remains intact in their own place. As a result of remaining intact in their own places for these structures, no neck pain, postoperative instability and kyphosis were observed to develop in this study.
CONCLUSION: Cervical arcocristectomy is more physiological and far better advantagous biomechanicly than the other types of posterior approaches for the treatment of the cervical spondylotic myelopathy resulting from flavum hypertrophy.
Anahtar Kelimeler : Cervical, Myelopathy, Arcocristectomy technique