Technical note of cervical laminoplasty using titanium spacer “laminoplasty basket”

Abstract

Surgical approaches to the degenerative diseases such as cervical spondylosis or ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament of the cervical spine include anterior arthrodesis and posterior decompression with or without fusion. Cervical laminoplasty was first described by Hattori, et al in 1973, and was getting the popularity as a typical posterior approach. This technique can yield a reasonable outcome as good as that of laminectomy with the advantage of avoiding total removal of spino-laminar complex. In this technique, a spacer is generally used to maintain the expanded spinal canal. Although apacerum has been most widely used as a spacer, complications derived from this material were reported. A novel titanium spacer called “Laminoplasty Basket” was lately introduced to compensate for the deficits of apacerum. In this paper, we describe surgical technique of less-invasive cervical laminoplasty using “Laminoplasty Basket” under an operating microscope.