Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion Associated Complications.

Posted 2007-10-14 19:52:49

In a recent publication in Spine, Fountas et al. published a retrospective review of complications associated with anterior cervical discectomy and fusion. The authors address management of these complications. A chart review of 1015 patients revealed a mortality rate of 0.1% (1 of 1015 patients, death occurred secondary to an esophageal perforation). The morbidity rate was 19.3% (196 of 1015 patients). The most common complication was the development of isolated postoperative dysphagia, which was observed in 9.5% of the patients. Other complications included postoperative hematoma (5.6%), recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy (3.1%), dural penetration (0.5%) and esophageal perforation (0.3%).

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