Anterior cervical corpectomy and fusion with stand-alone cages in patients with multilevel degenerative cervical spine disease is safe

In case of spinal cord compression behind the vertebral body, anterior cervical corpectomy and fusion (ACCF) proves to be a more feasible approach than cervical discectomy. The next step was the placement of an expandable titanium interbody in order to restore the vertebral height. The need for additional anterior plating with ACCF has been debatable and such technique has been evaluated by very few studies. The objective of the study is to evaluate radiographic and clinical outcomes in patients with multilevel degenerative cervical spine disease treated by stand-alone cages for anterior cervical corpectomy and fusion (ACCF). Thirty-one patients (66.5 ± 9.75 years, range 53-85 years) were analyzed. Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and the 10-item Neck Disability Index (NDI) were assessed preoperatively and during follow-up on a regular basis after surgery and after one year at least. Assessment of radiographic fusion, subsidence, and lordosis measurement of Global cervical lordosis (GCL); fusion site lordosis (FSL); the anterior interbody space height (ant. DSH); the posterior interbody space height (post. DSH); the distance of the cage to the posterior wall of the vertebral body (CD) were done retrospectively. Mean clinical and radiographic follow-up was 20.0 ± 4.39 months. VAS-neck (p = 0.001) and VAS-arm (p