PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Zhang Xifeng
AU  - Jiajing Zhang
AU  - Yuqiu Yan
AU  - Rongqing Bu
AU  - Haitao Fan
AU  - Vincent Hagel
AU  - Albert E. Telfeian
AU  - Jorge Felipe Ramírez León
AU  - Morgan P. Lorio
AU  - Kai-Uwe Lewandrowski
TI  - Endoscopic Posterior Cervical Decompression for Ossified Posterior Longitudinal Ligament: A Technical Note
AID  - 10.14444/8453
DP  - 2023 May 25
TA  - International Journal of Spine Surgery
PG  - 8453
4099  - http://ijssurgery.com//content/early/2023/05/24/8453.short
4100  - http://ijssurgery.com//content/early/2023/05/24/8453.full
AB  - Background Ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) may cause cervical myelopathy. In its multilevel form, it may not be easy to manage. Minimally invasive endoscopic posterior cervical decompression may be an alternative to traditional laminectomy surgery.Methods Thirteen patients with multilevel OPLL and symptomatic cervical myelopathy were treated with endoscopic spine surgery from January 2019 to June 2020. In this consecutive observational cohort study, pre- and postoperative Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score and Neck Disability Index (NDI) were analyzed at a final follow-up of 2 years postoperatively.Results There were 13 patients consisting of 3 women and 10 men. The patient’s average age was 51.15 years. At the final 2-year follow-up, the JOA score improved from a preoperative value of 10.85 ± 2.91 to 14.77 ± 2.13 postoperatively (P < 0.001). The corresponding NDI scores decreased from 26.61 ± 12.88 to 11.12 ± 10.85 (P < 0.001). There were no infections, wound complications, or reoperations.Conclusion Direct posterior endoscopic decompression for multilevel OPLL is feasible in symptomatic patients when executed at a high skill level. While 2-year outcomes were encouraging and on par with historic data obtained with traditional laminectomy, future studies will need to show whether any long-term shortcomings exist.Level of Evidence 3.