Cervical Spine Surgery
A 48-year-old woman presents with 3 months of left arm radicular pain in the C6 distribution with weakness of elbow flexion (MRC 4/5) despite conservative management. MRI shows a left paracentral disc herniation at C5-6 with nerve root compression. She is scheduled for anterior cervical discectomy and fusion. Regarding ACDF surgical technique and complications:
Mark each as TRUE or FALSE
The Smith-Robinson approach is the standard anterior cervical exposure; the carotid sheath is retrac...
Left-sided approach is generally preferred for ACDF as the recurrent laryngeal nerve has a longer pr...
Right-sided approach is preferred due to better surgeon ergonomics; dysphagia is rare occurring in l...
Dysphagia is the most common complication occurring transiently in up to 50% of patients (2-5% persi...
Single-level fusion rate is 95%; anterior plating increases fusion rate especially in multilevel sur...
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Click T (True) or F (False) for each option