Complications following anterior cervical spine surgery for disc diseases: an analysis of ten years experience

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to define, analyse and discuss the incidence and severity of the complications associated with anterior cervical spine surgery for degenerative disc diseases. The results and the management of complications of anterior spine surgery are discussed in relation to numerous previous published reports: precise knowledge of all potential accidents and pitfalls related to the surgical approaches and of their aetiology may contribute to preventing failures. The most common complication was a recurrent laryngeal nerve injury that developed in 7.9% of the cases. Dysphagia occurred in 5.6%, hoarseness in 5.2%, transient sore throat in 4.8%, worsening of pre-existing myelopathy in 3%, graft extrusion in 1.7%; root injury, haematoma, and wound infection developed in 0.87%. There was one case of oesophageal injury (0.43%) and there were no deaths related to the surgical approach. The rate of complications in our series has been reduced in the past years by 1) better patients selection: all of the patients in fact had previously received conservative treatment for at least four weeks; 2) more care in correct positioning of the patient during the operation; 3) meticolous removal of all harmful structures.