Anterior cervical decompression and fusion for a single-level cervical disc herniation

Cervical radiculopathy is a clinical diagnosis consisting of sensory and/or motor symptoms in a nerve root distribution of the upper extremity. Operative management is frequently required to relieve symptoms. Anterior cervical decompression and fusion (ACDF) was originally described by Smith and Robinson and has been shown to be a relatively safe treatment approach to the cervical spine. Modern advances have helped to improve outcomes and decrease complications, including the development of bone grafting techniques, cage constructs, and augmentation of grafting with anterior plating systems. Anterior plating serves to increase fusion rates and maintain sagittal alignment. Despite advancements, complications still exist, including dysphagia, dural tear, adjacent segment disease, esophageal perforation, hardware failure, and recurrence of symptoms. We have reviewed the literature and shown that for single-level radiculopathy of a nerve root in the cervical spine, ACDF with plating is a favorable surgical treatment.