Abstract
We reviewed 177 patients with cervical compression myelopathy who underwent decompression of the cervical spinal cord from 1986 to 1999. 11 patients (6.2%) developed postoperative C5 nerve palsy. Intraoperative electrophysiological examination was performed on 4 patients with postoperative nerve palsy, and identified symptomatic cord levels were at the C4-5 or multiple level including C4-5. Significant motor loss of the deltoid and biceps muscle is therefore predicted to occur with C5 nerve root disorder in patients with myelopathy at the C4-5 disc level. In other words, myotome of the deltoid and biceps of patients with myelopathy at the C4-5 disc level are main at C5 due to irjury of the C6 spinal cord segment. Nerve palsy is thus significant when C5 nerve disorder occurs in such patients.
