In vitro comparison of a translational anterior cervical plate with a constrained anterior cervical plate

摘要

Cervical spondylosis is the most common degenerative disorder affecting the cervical spine and is often treated surgically to prevent further neurological deterioration. However, clinical experience has shown that anterior cervical plating does not prevent construct failure in multi-level cervical corpectomy (Vaccaro et al., 1998). We have previously shown that anterior cervical plating reverses the load transfer through multi-level strut-grafts and may promote pistoning of these grafts (DiAngelo et al., 2000). The design of the anterior cervical plate (ACP) may contribute to this phenomenon. The purpose of this study was to compare the graft loading mechanics of two different anterior cervical plating Systems; one with a constrained plate-screw interface versus another with a semi-constrained, translational plate-screw interface.