ACDF has long been considered as the gold standard for the treatment of degenerative cervical spine diseases[2]. ACDF has the advantages of adequate decompression of the spinal cord and nerves, can maintain or even re-establish spinal stability, restore and maintain the physiological prognathism of the cervical spine. And it's a favorite of spinal surgeons[3, 4]. However, conventional procedures often use titanium plate fixation in the anterior cervical approach, which alters the biomechanical properties of the cervical spine and can accelerate the degeneration of the adjacent segments. A review of the literature, the imaging results of adjacent segmental degeneration after ACDF surgery can be as high as 92%[5, 12]. and the reoperation for symptomatic ASD was ranged from 2.1–22%[5]. These results are largely in line with the studies by Hilibrand[13] and Goffin[14]. Previous studies have demonstrated that the development of ASD may be influenced by the number and location of fusion segments, plate-to-disc distances, preexisting degenerative changes at adjacent segments, and excessive disc space distraction[15]. However, Zero-p interbody fusion system features Low notch, self-anchoring, and a one-piece interbody fusion device that supports and fixes the segmental vertebrae[16]. It can be integrated into the intervertebral space without exceeding the anterior edge of the vertebral body, and no anterior titanium plate fixation is required, which can effectively avoid the injury and stimulation of the prevertebral soft tissue and esophagus caused by the traditional titanium plate, and avoid the influence of the traditional titanium plate on adjacent segments, thus effectively reducing the incidence of postoperative dysphagia and degeneration of adjacent segments of the cervical vertebra. The clinical effect of the zero-p intervertebral fusion system in the treatment of cervical degenerative diseases has been widely studied[16–18]. However, there are relatively fewer studies on symptomatic ASD after ACDF. Therefore, this study analyzed its clinical efficacy and radiological results in the application of symptomatic ASD and compared it with a traditional titanium plate combined with a cage.
Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion were mostly in C4/5, C5/6, and C6/7 segments, After ACDF, the stresses in the non-fused segments are redistributed, while the extension and rotation of the cervical spine extend from top to bottom with progressively decreasing mobility, so that degeneration occurs mostly the superior fused vertebrae[5, 19, 20]. This study followed 17 cases of superior ASD and 9 cases of inferior ASD. ASD occurred mostly in the superior adjacent segments. Besides, Hilibrand et al. found that C4/5, C5/6, and C6/7 spinal levels had a higher risk of developing symptomatic ASD than other segments[3, 5, 21]. A total of 22 cases (Table 1) of responsible segments were located in C4/5, C5/6, and C6/7 in the follow-up cases of this study, accounting for 84.62% of all cases. Consistent with the findings of Hilibrand et al.
Our study demonstrates that again ACDF is effective in improving neuro-spinal cord compression symptoms in symptomatic ASD patients, and achieve good clinical efficacy. In our study, both groups of patients achieved good symptomatic improvement and satisfactory neurological recovery after surgery, and the postoperative JOA score, VAS score, and NDI index were significantly improved compared with the preoperative. Besides, the JOA improvement rate reached over 80% in both groups. However, the zero-p interbody fusion system also has some advantages of its own. ACDF with a zero-p intervertebral fusion system does not require removal of previous internal fixation, which can reduce the separation of scar tissue to a certain extent. Compared with conventional titanium plates combined with cage fusion, the operation time is significantly shortened, and intraoperative accidents can be reduced to a certain extent. This is consistent with the results of the retrospective studies by Wang[5] and Shen[4] et al. on post-ACDF complications of ASD while performing ACDF again, zero-p interbody fusion internal fixation significantly shortened the operative time. Dysphagia is a common complication after ACDF, and its incidence has been reported in the literature to be up to 67%[4, 5, 22]. the development of dysphagia may be influenced by postoperative soft-tissue edema, postoperative hematoma, esophageal injury, cervical plate implanting, the surrounding scar formation, and intraoperative pulling and irritation to the esophagus[5, 23, 24]. In this study, the incidence of postoperative dysphagia in the zero-p group in this study was 8.3%, which was significantly lower than the 50% in the titanium plate group. This advantage disappeared at the last follow-up. The analysis may be since the zero-p group did not require removal of previous internal fixation and reduced scar tissue separation and anterior cervical soft tissue injury relative to the titanium plate group. Besides, the operative time is significantly shortened, intraoperative pulling and irritation to the esophagus are reduced, and the zero-p fusion system does not extend beyond the anterior border of the vertebral body, reducing the irritation of the anterior titanium plate to the anterior cervical tissue and esophagus. The application of ACDF with a zero-p interbody fusion system is therefore very helpful in reducing the incidence of early dysphagia after symptomatic ASD surgery.
Anterior cervical lordosis is a protective factor in maintaining the stability of the cervical spine[22, 25]. Related studies have found a positive correlation between the loss of the C2-C7Cobb angle after ACDF and the development of ASD, and an increase in the C2-C7Cobb angle reduces the motion of adjacent segments, which in turn reduces the incidence of ASD[26, 27]. In the present study, the C2-C7Cobb angle was significantly increased in both groups after surgery compared with the preoperative, but no significant difference was seen between the 2 groups. Therefore, both the titanium plate group and the zero-p group are effective in improving and maintaining cervical curvature. However, this study also has some limitations. As a retrospective study, the sample size is small and the follow-up time is relatively short. Besides, Complications of ASD after repeat ACDF were not included in the statistics, and data measurement and case adoption may have been biased. Therefore conclusions still need to have large samples and long-term follow-up studies to obtain more reliable results and thus better guide clinical practice.