Saturday, March 30, 2013

Anterior surgical approaches to the cervicothoracic junction: when to use the manubriotomy?

Available online 30 March 2013
Publication year: 2013
Source:The Spine Journal

Background context The cervicothoracic junction (CTJ) is always a difficult area for anterior approaches. Among them, low anterior cervical approach alone or combined with manubriotomy is the most frequently used. Purpose To study the need of manubriotomy. Study design/setting Comparison of last guidelines proposed in literature. Patient sample Seven patients treated between March 2010 and March 2011. Methods All the patients were scanned on with computed tomography and magnetic resonance of the spinal column before surgery. Measurements by Teng and Karikari were applied in all the cases. An illustrative case is showed. Results The anterior approaches to the CTJ are reviewed. The most recent guidelines by Teng and Karikari are easy to apply and careful. The results obtained were the same in all the cases with good outcome. Conclusions Manubriotomy permits a good exposure of the CTJ area with a low rate of complications. Either Teng and Karikari's guidelines can be used to estabilish the need of manubriotomy.






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