Background
Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion is the gold standard for the management of cervical radiculopathy. Different materials (cages and plates) were used.
Aim
This study is designed to compare the results between cages and plates for anterior interbody fusion for cervical radiculopathy.
Patients and methods
Twenty-four consecutive patients with single-level or double-level cervical radiculopathy that was refractory to conservative treatment were treated surgically. Twelve patients were treated with the stand-alone cage procedure (cage group), and an additional 12 patients were treated with the anterior plating method (plate group). They were selected from Al-Azhar University Hospitals during the period from August 2013 to February 2015.
Results
There was a significant increase of overall complications in the plate group when compared with the cage group. In addition, the overall outcome was significantly better in the cage group when compared with the plate group (outcome was excellent, good, and fair in 58.3, 33.3, and 8.3%, respectively, in the cage group, compared with 8.3, 50.0, and 41.7% in the plate group with the same order). This outcome was confirmed by the Prolo score, which was significantly higher in the cage group when compared with the plate group (8.41 ± 1.08 vs. 7.41 ± 0.99, respectively). Finally, comparing single or double levels in both groups revealed that outcome was significantly better in the cage group when compared with the plate group.
Conclusion
Both cage and plating are good methods for interbody fusion in the treatment of cervical radiculopathy. However, cage is better in the overall outcome, and it reduced overall complications in either single-level or double-level cervical radiculopathy.