ASSESSMENT OF SPINAL-CORD BLOOD-FLOW AND FUNCTION IN SHEEP AFTER ANTEROLATERAL CERVICAL INTERBODY FUSION IN THE PRESENCE OF CORD DAMAGE

The safety of an anterolateral cervical fusion, which facilitates stab ilization without sacrifice of the anterior longitudinal ligament, rec ently has been brought into question. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of an anterolateral cervical fusion on spinal cord blood flow and motor and sensory-evoked potentials in the presence of an incomplete spinal cord injury. In 12 sheep, a spinal cord injury wa s produced by the rapid inflation of an extradural balloon catheter; s ix of the animals had a cervical fusion. There was no significant diff erence in spinal cord blood flow or evoked potential responses obtaine d from the sheep that had an anterolateral cervical fusion, compared w ith the sheep that did not. Based on these results, it seems unlikely that this surgery has an adverse effect on recovery from spinal cord i njury in the absence of operative mishap.