Aim:

The purpose of this study is therefore to compare cervical lordosis and sagittal vertical axis values before and after anterior cervical discectomy operations.

Materials-Method:

We evaluated 62 patients who were operated for cervical disc herniation between 2016-2018 retrospectively. Cervical X-ray graphics were taken as standing lateral neutral positioned preoperative and postoperative periods. These graphics were searched with the radiology pacs program and CL angle and SVA were measured at preoperative and postoperative periods.

Results:

A total of 62 patients included in the analyses. Mean age of the study group was 45.9±8 years, and M/F ratio was 26/36 (41.9 % vs. 58.1 %). Most frequent diagnosis was C4-5 disc hernia (n=28, 45.2 %), and most frequent operation was C4-5 microdiscectomy + interbody fusion. Comparisons between study periods revealed that postoperative CL was significantly increased when compared to preoperative values (p<0.001), but there was no significant difference for SVA (p=0.445).

Conclusion:

There are different results for the discussion on cervical sagittal alignment changes after anterior cervical discectomy operations. We found that cervical lordosis is increasing significantly after anterior cervical discectomy operations whereas SVA not. Anterior cervical discectomy operations support to maintain CL in degenerative cervical disc disease. However, further investigations with an increased amount of cervical spine data are needed with long-term results.

Keywords: Anterior cervical discectomy, cervical lordosis, Cobb angles, sagittal vertical axis