Surgery in cervical disc herniation: anterior cervical discectomy without fusion or with fusion

The study included a group of anterior cervical microdiscectomy without fusion performed at one level (either C5-C6 level or at the C6-C7 level) and a second group of patients with same single-level of anterior cervical discectomy with fusion. The kinematic analysis included the range of motion, anteroposterior translation and disc height assessed for the cervical functional spinal units at the operated level and adjacent levels. At the operated level the range of motion and the translation were minimal in the anterior cervical discectomy without fusion group, both for the C5-C6 and C6-C7 levels, and absent in the cervical discectomy with fusion group. The superior adjacent levels translations were greater in the ACDF group compared with the ACD group. The clinical results of both types of cervical discectomy were comparable. In cervical microdiscectomy without fusion the elastic fibrous intradiscal scar at the operated level allows a small degree of mobility and the adjacent cervical levels are not overstressed. No need for anterior cervical discectomy with fusion to trait a single level cervical disc herniation than in selected cases.