Abstract
Background Bilateral C5 motor palsy is a rare but potentially debilitating complication after cervical spine decompression with very few reports in the published literature.
Purpose To present a case of bilateral C5 motor palsy after anterior cervical decompression and fusion and discuss the incidence and risk factors of this complication.
Study Design/Setting We report a case of a 57-year-old male who underwent a three level C3-C6 anterior cervical discectomy and fusion with instrumentation who developed a postoperative bilateral C5 motor palsy.
Methods A review of the literature was performed regarding reports on and incidence of post-operative bilateral C5 palsy following either anterior or posterior cervical spine decompression.
Results Bilateral C5 motor palsy is a rare complication of cervical spine decompression with an overall incidence of 0.38%. Although a group of risk factors have been suggested no single cause has been identified.
Conclusions Bilateral C5 motor palsy is a rare but debilitating complication of cervical decompression.
- Copyright © 2017 ISASS - This manuscript is generously published free of charge by ISASS, the International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery