Extensive cervical laminoplasty for patients with long segment OPLL in thecervical spine: an alternative to the anterior approach

We investigated treatment of long segment cervical OPLL by posterior decomp ression using a laminoplasty technique. Our aim was to both decompress the spinal cord and also to preserve neck motion. There were 38 patients treate d by this posterior approach. Twenty-eight patients underwent C1-C7 expandi ng laminoplasty, 4 patients underwent C1-T1 expanding laminoplasty, and 6 p atients C2-C7 expanding laminoplasty, The transverse width of the open-door laminoplasty was sufficient to achieve decompression of not only the spina l cord but also the nerve root outlets at each laminoplasty level. There we re no complications related to this surgical technique, nor late deteriorat ion in the mean follow up period of 4.5 years. We propose expanding laminop lasty as an important option for the treatment of long segment cervical OPL L. (C) 2000 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.