A retrospective study of different anterior and posterior approaches in the treatment of intervertebral discprotrusion at the cervicothoracic junction

This study explores the efficacy of different anterior and posterior cervical spine surgeries in the treatment of cervical thoracic disc protrusion. A retrospective analysis was conducted on 31 patients with cervical thoracic intervertebral disc herniation who underwent surgical treatment at the Spinal Surgery Department of the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University from January 2018 to May 2022. According to the surgical method, it is divided into anterior group and posterior group. Compare the general situation of 2 groups of patients, record the surgical situation and postoperative complications of the 2 groups. The Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) scoring system and visual analog scale (VAS) pain scale were used to evaluate the preoperative and postoperative functional recovery of patients. Patients in the posterior group had longer surgical time and more intraoperative blood loss compared to those in the anterior group. At 12 months after surgery, the VAS scores of both groups significantly decreased (P < .01), and the anterior group was significantly lower than the posterior group (P < .01). The JOA score is the opposite. The incidence of postoperative complications in the posterior group was significantly higher than that in the anterior group. If the segment of intervertebral disc herniation at the cervical thoracic junction is located above the sternum stem, anterior cervical surgery can avoid splitting the sternum, achieve good decompression and fixation, and be beneficial for restoring the physiological curvature of the spine at the cervical thoracic junction, achieving satisfactory clinical results.