Cervical spondylotic myelopathy with degenerative spondylolisthesis is rare. This paper presents the methods for the surgical treatment of this spinal disorder.
Six cases of degenerative cervical spondylolisthesis with myelopathy were treated by three operative procedures. Three cases were treated by laminoplasty and other cases were treated by two types of spinal fusion. One of the cases treated by laminoplaty showed complications with transient shoulder girdle palsy. Segmental instability in C4/5 was observed by plain radiographs in this case.
We recommended the fusion procedures for a case whose spinal cord was compressed only at the lesion with spondylolisthesis. On the other hand, when the spinal cord was compressed at multi levels, we recommend laminoplasty. Different methods should be used for cases with segmental instability. For example, we recommend combined with decompression of the nerve root for such cases.
