Biomechanical comparison of expandable cages for vertebral body replacement in the cervical spine (original) (raw)

2003, Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine

OMMON causes for the destruction of the cervical spine are fractures, tumors, and infections. 9,14,15,18,29 When cervical spine surgery is necessary because of spine instability, neurological deterioration, intractable pain, and failure of conservative treatment, allogenous or autogenous bone grafts such as rib, 41 fibula, 9,26,32 tibia, 1,37 and iliac crest 4,9 have been used to reconstruct the anterior column. These commonly performed bone grafting techniques may produce a number of well-known problems related to donor-site morbidity, 9,30 nonunion, 9,28,38 or fatigue failure. 41 Biomechanical problems, such as the low compression stiffness of the grafts 41 or the insufficient anchorage of the grafts to the vertebral endplates, sometimes have resulted in graft collapse and dislocation. 2,28,33 In attempts to solve these problems, cervical spine cages for VB replacement have been developed.