Anterior Cervical Corpectomy

Pinching of the spinal cord is not usually painful.  You may not exhibit any signs or symptoms of spinal cord compression, also called cervical myelopathy. The longer you live with spinal cord compression, the more bruised your spinal cord can become and the harder it will be for the spinal cord to become “unbruised” after your surgeon completes surgery.  The danger and risk of living with this condition over time is progression of symptoms and possible paralysis.

• Symptoms of spinal cord pinching are called myelopathy.  These symptoms include difficulty with balance or falling, issues with dexterity and fine motor skills (handwriting, buttoning buttons, picking up small objects, dropping things), urinary frequency or incontinence,or heaviness of the extremities.
• Signs your provider may find that are also included in the diagnosis of myelopathy include jumpy reflexes on exam, inability to walk in a straight line, other balance problems on exam.
• It is important to let your surgeon know if you have any of the symptoms of myelopathy, as this may guide treatment recommendations

OPLL is an abnormal spinal condition and stands for ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament. The posterior longitudinal ligament is a structure that stabilizes the bones within the spinal column.  This ligament can become ossified meaning it hardens into a bone or bone-like structure. When this occurs, a corpectomy is the recommended surgery to adequately remove this bone and decompress the spinal cord and nerves.