Clinical application and surgical results of cervical hollow cage(Rabea™) systems without bone graft in the cervical spinal surgery

초록

Purpose: The authors applied cervical hollow cage without bone graft to the patients of one-level cervical spodylosis or acute cervical disc herniation to fill and stabilize a vacant space following anterior decompression. Their mechanical stability, bony growth on the intervertebral space and clinical improvement was retrospectively analyzed. Material and Methods: Twenty-two patients from May 1999 to April 2001 had been taken procedure with Rabea™ system following anterior decompression and there had been no additional bone graft or screw fixation or fusion. Clinical outcome according to Odom’s classification was evaluated and radiological assessment was performed to change the intervertebral disc height and segmental angle before/ after surgery. At least, all patient were followed up for 12 months. Results: 14 cases(63.6%) of “excellent” results and 6 cases(27.3%) of “good” results were included. In the lateral projection, the mean of preoperative disc height of the anterior and posterior portion was respectively 4.45±1.53mm and 4.69±1.34mm. Twelve months after operation, the mean disc height was significantly increased to 8.00±1.67mm and 7.30±1.10mm. Preoperatively, the mean segmental angle around surgical level was 1.04±3.82 degree, but significantly changed. to 5.90±4.42 degree. No cage rotation or retropulsion was noted in follow-up periods. Two patients(9.1%) was observed to subside of disc height on the postoperative periods and their satisfaction to surgery was not well. Conclusion: Cervical hollow cage was simple to performe and reduced the operation time and donor site pain due to processing without bone graft. In addition to stability, they might be improved intervertebral disc height and segmental cervical angle as the physiologic level. The cervical hollow cage may be an alternative to traditional cervical interbody fusion with bone graft.