C5 Palsy after Cervical Laminectomy: Natural History in a 10 year Series

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study. Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the results of cervical laminectomy (CL) performed with ultrasonic bone scalpel (UBS) or conventional method (CM). Method: This study comprised 311 CL performed by a single surgeon between January 2004 and December 2017. Group A (GpA) comprised 124 cases of CL performed using UBS, while Group B (GpB) comprised 187 cases of CL performed using CM. These 2 groups were compared in terms of demographic characteristics of patients, duration of surgery, estimated blood loss, and surgical complications. Results: GpA included 112 males and 12 females, mean age being 61.18 years. GpB comprised 166 males and 21 females, mean age being 62.04 years. Mean duration of surgery, estimated blood loss, and length of hospital stay was 65.52/70.87 minutes, 90.24/98.40 mL, and 4.80/4.87 days in GpA and GpB, respectively. Six patients were reported to have dural injuries in each group. In GpA, 2 cases of C5 palsy and 1 nerve root injury was observed, while in GpB, 3 cases of C5 palsy and no nerve root injury was reported. One patient had developed transient neurological deterioration postsurgery in GpA as against 11 patients in GpB. Conclusion: Neurological complications observed in CM leads to intensive care unit admission, additional morbidity, and additional expenditure, whereas UBS provides a safe, rapid, and effective means of performing CL, thereby decreasing the rate of surgical complications and postoperative morbidity.

Download Full-text

Contribution of Lordotic Correction on C5 Palsy Following Cervical Laminectomy and Fusion

Neurosurgery ◽

10.1227/neu.0000000000001199 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 79 (6) ◽

pp. 816-822 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Jacob Cherian ◽

Rory R. Mayer ◽

Kareem B. Haroun ◽

Lona R. Winnegan ◽

Ibrahim Omeis

Keyword(s):

Deformity Correction ◽

Plain Film ◽

Senior Author ◽

Control Group ◽

Cervical Alignment ◽

Cervical Spine Surgery ◽

Cervical Laminectomy ◽

C5 Palsy ◽

Spine Registry ◽

Laminectomy And Fusion

Abstract BACKGROUND: C5 palsy is a well-reported complication of cervical spine surgery. The implication of sagittal cervical alignment parameters and their changes after surgery on the incidence of C5 palsy remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: We review cervical alignment changes in our cases of C5 palsy after cervical laminectomy and fusion. METHODS: Cases of C5 palsy were retrospectively compared with a control group. Preoperative and postoperative upright plain film radiographs were analyzed in blinded fashion. RESULTS: Spine registry analysis identified 148 patients who underwent cervical laminectomy and fusion by the senior author over 5 years. There were 18 (12%) cases complicated by postoperative C5 palsy. Nine of these 18 patients had prerequisite upright films and were compared with a randomly constructed case control group of 20 patients. There were no statistically significant differences between the 2 groups in age, proportion of males, and preoperative Nurick score. Measures of sagittal alignment did not differ significantly between the 2 groups on preoperative and postoperative imaging. When comparing the amount of alignment change between preoperative and postoperative upright imaging, however, patients with C5 palsy had a statistically higher amount of average C4-C5 Cobb angle change (−2.53 vs 0.78°; P = .01). Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that lordotic change in both C4-C5 and C2-C7 Cobb angles were associated with development of palsy. CONCLUSION: Lordotic cervical correction, as measured on upright imaging, was statistically larger in patients who had C5 palsy. The role of deformity correction in C5 palsy deserves further study and may inform intraoperative decision making.

Download Full-text