In the surgical treatment of ruptured cervical intervertebral discs, the operation of vertebral body fusion following subtotal removal of the disc had been employed from March 1982 to November 1986.
An anterior approach to the cervical intervertebral disc was carried out on 26 patients. We examined the postoperative results and roentgenograms. Their ages ranged from 19 to 67 years. Seventy-three percent of the patients were in the 3rd, 4th and 5th decade. There were 17 males and 9 females. Three patients gave a history of injury. Three patients had an anomaly of cervical vertebral body. Eighty per cent of all disc lesion were found at C4-5 and C5-6. According to the improve ratio of Hirabayashi, 90 per cent of the patients showed excellent or good results. Malalignment of cervical spine and non-union of fused vertebral body gave no influence on the postoperative results. Cloward's anterior interbody fusion is a safe and effective approach in the surgical treatment of cervical soft disc herniation.