Evolución de la artrodesis cervical postdiscectomía: injerto óseo, placa, caja intersomática y placa-caja

The surgical techniques for anterior cervical postdiscectomy arthrodesis are reviewed, including bone graft, cervical plates, intervertebral cages and plate-cage systems. The biomechanical advantages of each method are discussed. An alternative to arthrodesis are simple discectomy and arthroplastia with disc prosthesis. Integrated plate-cage systems are the final result in the evolution of the cervical arthrodesis developments. The available plate-cage systems are described.