Curative Effect Analysis In Surgical Treatment Of Ossification Of Posterior Longitudinal Ligament Of Cervical Spine In27Cases

[Objective]To discuss surgical approaches, results and complications of ossificationof posterior longitudinal ligament(OPLL)of cervical spine.[Method]The clinic data of27patients with cervical OPLL who were operated fromMar.2007to Sep.2012was followed up. Twelve cases were in anterior approaches,nine cases in posterior approaches, six cases in combined anterior-posteriorapproaches. The improvement rate according to the JOA scoring system wasevaluated at each time point, then evaluated the curative effect. some relevant imagingexamination data including X-rays, CT and MRI were also measured, which weretaken pre-and post-operatively. Surgical complications were also recorded．[Result]The average JOA score for the27cases increased from (8.8±1.5)preoperatively to (13.6±1.0)2years postoperatively. The average postoperativeimprovement rate was57.3%in total,61.0%in anterior group,52.3%in posteriorgroup and62.4%in combined anterior-posterior group. And then the curative effect1year postoperatively was showed: exellent in1case, good in15cases, common in10cases and no poor cases. There were2cases with dural tear,1with segmental nerveroot palsy and2with delayed union after operation。[Conclusion]Vertebras decompression with fusion was an effective method fortreatment of cervical OPLL and the short-term effects were satisfactory. Theimprovement rate in anterior approaches and combined anterior-posterior approacheswas higher than in posterior approaches.