Fully Endoscopic Bilateral Cervical Laminotomy with Unilateral Approach for Cervical Spinal Stenosis and Myelopathy: A Case Series

Abstract

Surgical decompression via an anterior or posterior approach is the treatment of choice for patients with cervical spinal stenosis/cord compression and cervical myelopathy. Traditional open and tubular approaches for treatment of central and lateral recess spinal stenosis involve laminotomy or laminectomy with removal of overgrown ligamentum flavum and a portion of the medial facet joints in order to decompress the central canal and lateral recess. Posterior minimally invasive compression techniques allow preservation of motion segment and neural decompression without fusion. Microendoscopic laminotomy (MED) patients have significantly less postoperative axial pain and improved subaxial cervical lordosis when compared with traditional laminoplasty patients [1].