What is cervical spondylosis? Cervical spondylosis is a series of clinical manifestations caused by trauma, strain, degeneration and other factors that lead to pressure on the spinal cord and nerves in the neck. Cervical spondylosis is a common orthopedic disease, and in the past, middle-aged and elderly patients were the majority. With the popularity of computers and smartphones, the incidence of cervical spondylosis has increased year by year and is getting younger. According to the relevant survey, China’s cervical spondylosis patients have exceeded 80 million people, cervical spondylosis has gradually become one of the main diseases threatening the health of the people. What are the symptoms of cervical spondylosis? Patients with cervical spondylosis often experience pain and discomfort in the neck and shoulder, and many patients also experience numbness and pain in the arms and fingers, which is mostly caused by the compression of the nerve roots of the cervical spine, clinically known as neurogenic cervical spondylosis, which is one of the most common types of cervical spondylosis. If the cervical spondylosis is further aggravated, the patient will also experience weakness and inflexibility in both hands, and will not be able to complete actions such as writing and using chopsticks, and the lower limbs may also experience weakness, difficulty in walking and a feeling of stepping on cotton. treatment. How is cervical spine surgery performed? Surgery for cervical spondylosis is divided into anterior surgery and posterior surgery, and the location from which the surgery should be done is determined by the patient’s condition. Anterior cervical spine surgery is done from the front of the neck to relieve the pressure on the cervical spinal cord and nerves, thus relieving the patient’s symptoms, and is suitable for patients with 1-2 segmental cervical disc herniation. A 3-4 cm incision is usually made in the right front of the neck to expose the vertebrae and discs of the cervical spine through blunt separation. The disc or vertebral body of the cervical spine is then removed all the way to the posterior spinal cord, thus relieving the spinal cord compression. After the disc or vertebral body is removed, a replacement is placed in its original position, which is called a fusion device. After the fusion device is placed, a plate is needed in front for fixation, allowing the bones between the two vertebrae to slowly heal together, thus achieving fusion. Anterior cervical spine surgery is a minimally invasive surgery, which has the advantages of short surgical incisions, small scars, and fast recovery after surgery, and is generally discharged from the hospital in about 3 days after the first day of surgery. Posterior cervical surgery is mostly applied to patients with multi-segmental cervical disc herniation and ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament. Posterior cervical surgery is an indirect decompression surgery, through which we expand the posterior space so that the nerves and spinal cord have enough space to drift backward, thus relieving the compression and relieving the patient’s symptoms. Is cervical spine surgery risky? Surgery on the cervical spine does carry some risks compared to surgery on the lumbar spine. Because there are large blood vessels, spinal cord, nerves, esophagus, trachea and other important tissues in the neck, damage to any of them can have catastrophic consequences. Therefore, I recommend that cervical spine surgery be done in a large hospital, a tertiary care hospital is better, and find a skilled spine surgeon, which will bring satisfactory results to the patient. The Department of Spine and Orthopedics of Southern Hospital is a national clinical key specialty recognized by the Ministry of Health and a medical key specialty of Guangdong Province. We have rich experience in cervical spine surgery, with less trauma, faster post-operative recovery and high patient satisfaction! If you have a problem with your cervical spine, come to us and we will definitely give you a satisfactory treatment result.