Surgical approaches for multilevel cervical canal stenosis in geriatric population

Background: Cervical spinal stenosis (CSS) is a progressive degenerative disorder impacting the intervertebral discs and facet joints, arising from congenital factors or the aging process. Aim: To assess the clinical and radiological results of cases that were managed with various surgical techniques for cervical spinal stenosis at our institute and to compare the efficiency of management techniques with those documented in the literature. Patients and methods: This retrospective research has been performed on 50 elderly cases (aged ≥65 years) that had surgical treatment for cervical canal stenosis at our institution between July 2020 and July 2022. Patients were categorized into 2 groups depending on the operative approach used: Anterior group (n = 20): cases who underwent anterior decompression surgery. Posterior group (n = 30): Patients who underwent posterior decompression surgery. Results: A statistically non-significant distinction was detected among the studied groups concerning preoperative cord diameter. A statistically non-significant variance was detected among the studied groups concerning Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) scores pre- and post-operation. A statistically non-significant distinction was detected among the studied groups concerning preoperative spinal curvature. However, a statistically significant distinction was detected among the studied groups concerning the number of decompressed levels and the specific decompressed spinal levels. Conclusion: The research indicated insignificant variances in demographics, preoperative measurements, or clinical outcomes between surgical approaches for cervical canal stenosis, but the number and levels decompressed varied.