In the past, as a posterior decompression surgery for OPLL, Iaminectomy was perfomed. Howerver, postoperative follow-up was made difficult by such negative factors as instability of the operated part, abnormal alignment, scar formation, etc. Therefore, to counteract these negative results, a variety of Iaminoplasty are being tried in recent years. We have performed Iaminoplasty both by the Kirita and Hirabayashi methods at our hospital since 1983, and we hereby report our evaluation of the operative results and the postoperative complications.
With the Hirabayashi method, we observed the limitation of the range of movement in the posterior flexion. We could observe no difference in the improvement rate of the clinical condition when using different operative techniques. Postoperatively, we had no case where OPLL's growth could be clearly observed.
In case of the unilateral existence of ossifications with a high rate of stenosis, we thought it was necessary to practice sufficient caution at the time of operation in order to prevent complications.