Anterior transcorporeal tunnel approach for cervical myelopathy guided by CT-based intraoperative spinal navigation: Technical note. (February 2018) - Quillo-Olvera, Javier
Highlights: There are minimally invasive techniques to decompress the spinal cord directly and accurately. The anterior transcorporeal tunnel approach with intraoperative navigation is a feasible option for cervical myelopathy. Anterior transcorporeal tunnel approach requires microsurgical skills to work in a narrow space. Three patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy were successfully treated using this approach. Abstract: Cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) is the most common degenerative disease of the spine in elderly patients. Although there are several surgical options for the treatment of this disease, minimally invasive techniques for localized decompression of the true clinical generator of the patient's disease has revolutionized spinal surgery recently. This article presents an alternate application of the anterior transcorporeal tunnel approach in combination with computed tomography (CT)-based intraoperative navigation in the treatment of patients with cervical myelopathy secondary to spondylosis. Three clinical cases are used as examples to demonstrate how this procedure can be used to decompress a localized target in cervical spondylotic myelopathy. Clinical images of each case are shown. Cervical decompression was successfully achieved in all three patients, with the improvement of preoperative symptoms. The anterior transcorporeal tunnel approach combined with the use of CT-based intraoperative spinal navigation may be a feasible minimally invasive procedure for the treatment of cervical spondylotic myelopathy in selected cases.