Chapter Preview Chapter Synopsis Nerve injuries and spinal cord injuries following cervical spine surgery can be devastating to the patient, family, and surgeon, but with adequate counseling preoperatively and appropriate management postoperatively, the impact can be lessened. Surgical technique can…
Chapter Preview Chapter Synopsis Vertebral artery injury during cervical spine surgery is a rare but devastating complication. The vertebral artery is most susceptible to injury anteriorly at C7, laterally from C3 to C7, and posteriorly at C1 and C2. A…
Chapter Preview Chapter Synopsis The current gold standard for treatment of disk degeneration is spinal fusion. Although effective in controlling pain, spinal fusion leads to restricted spinal motion and potentially to adjacent level degeneration. The goal of management should be…
Chapter Preview Chapter Synopsis Biologics in cervical spine surgery include demineralized bone matrix (DBM), ceramics, allografts containing mesenchymal stem cells, and growth factors. Each of these biologics has different characteristics and different degrees of osteoconductivity, osteoinductivity, and ostegenicity. This chapter…
Chapter Preview Chapter Synopsis Neck and low back pain is common, and intervertebral disk degeneration is thought to be one of the primary sources for pain generation. Although therapeutic techniques including surgical and non-surgical modalities have been applied, current therapies…
Chapter Preview Chapter Synopsis Image-guided spinal navigation is a computer-based surgical technology designed to improve intraoperative orientation to the nonvisualized anatomy during both conventional and minimally invasive spinal procedures. This chapter covers the principles of image-guided spinal navigation, current types…
Chapter Preview Chapter Synopsis The goals of individual minimally invasive surgery (MIS) approaches in the cervical spine are to minimize disruption of the normal anatomic structures, to diminish soft tissue disruption, and to prevent both short-term and long-term morbidity while…
Chapter Preview Chapter Synopsis Interspinous wiring techniques were developed as a means of stabilizing traumatic cervical injuries. Although increasingly replaced by newer technologies, such as lateral mass screws and pedicle screws, interspinous wiring remains a useful supplemental or alternative means…
Chapter Preview Chapter Synopsis Lateral mass screw–based instrumentation is a well-established technique for cervical spine fusion. Screw placement is constrained by the course of the vertebral artery, the nerve roots, and the anatomy of the facet joints. Many screw trajectories…
Chapter Preview Chapter Synopsis Cervical pedicle screws offer a biomechanical advantage over other types of posterior cervical instrumentation, but at the expense of increased risk of iatrogenic neurovascular injury. Careful preoperative planning with evaluation of three-dimensional imaging and meticulous surgical…