OBJECTIVE: To achieve satisfactory cervical spinal cord decompression with minimal removal of bone. METHODS: The open-window corpectomy technique is designed to remove a minimal amount of bone and achieve satisfactory decompression. With the use of a high-speed drill under a surgical microscope, only the dorsal surface of the corpus is removed after appropriate microdiscectomies. This leaves the anterior and the lateral portions of the vertebral corpus intact. RESULTS: In a 15-month period, a total of 11 patients were treated with this technique. Five patients improved, and the remaining six patients remained the same neurologically during a mean follow-up period of 8.3 months. No complications were observed in any patients. CONCLUSION: The open-window corpectomy provides satisfactory spinal cord decompression in a biomechanically sound manner.
OBJECTIVE: To achieve satisfactory cervical spinal cord decompression with minimal removal of bone. METHODS: The open-window corpectomy technique is designed to remove a minimal amount of bone and achieve satisfactory decompression. With the use of a high-speed drill under a surgical microscope, only the dorsal surface of the corpus is removed after appropriate microdiscectomies. This leaves the anterior and the lateral portions of the vertebral corpus intact. RESULTS: In a 15-month period, a total of 11 patients were treated with this technique. Five patients improved, and the remaining six patients remained the same neurologically during a mean follow-up period of 8.3 months. No complications were observed in any patients. CONCLUSION: The open-window corpectomy provides satisfactory spinal cord decompression in a biomechanically sound manner.