Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion (ACDF)
Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion (ACDF) is the most commonly performed procedure to treat cervical stenosis and radiculopathy.
What Is Cervical Spinal Stenosis?
Cervical spinal stenosis occurs when the space around the nerves in the neck, also known as the cervical spine, narrows significantly enough to compress the spinal cord or the spinal nerves as they exit the spinal cord. This narrowing pressure can affect everything the spinal cord does, including moving, touch sensation, walking, and fine motor coordination.
What is Cervical Radiculopathy?
Cervical radiculopathy, also known as a "pinched nerve", occurs when the nerves in the neck are pinched as they exit the spinal cord. This may cause pain that radiates into the shoulders or down to the fingers, as well as muscle weakness and numbness and tingling.
What commonly causes Spinal Stenosis?
Degenerative arthritis is a natural process that affects each of us at different rates and can be accelerated by wear and tear or injury to the neck. Our genetics also predispose us to degenerative arthritis differently.
Herniated discs, also known as "slipped" or "ruptured" discs, can also cause pressure on the nerves resulting in pain, muscle weakness, or numbness and tingling in our arms and hands.
If your symptoms are severe and have not been relieved with nonsurgical treatments. You may be a candidate for surgery.
ACDF Surgery:
Anterior Approach
An "anterior" approach means that Dr. Attenello will approach your neck from the front through a small incision, typically hidden in the neck crease.
Cervical Discectomy
During this minimally invasive procedure, Dr. Attenello will remove the problematic disc material and bone spurs. The disk space is restored to the height it was prior to the disc wearing out. This makes more room for the nerves to leave the spine.
Fusion
After the disk space has been cleared out, Dr. Attenello will place a spacer in the disc space to stabilize and fuse your spine in the problematic area. Spinal fusion is essentially a "welding" process. The basic idea is to fuse together the vertebrae so that they heal into a single, solid bone. Fusion eliminates motion between the degenerated vertebrae and takes away some spinal flexibility. The theory is that if the painful spine segments do not move, they should not cause pain.
All spinal fusions use some type of bone material, called a bone graft, to help promote the fusion. The small pieces of bone are placed into the space left where the disk has been removed. Sometimes larger, solid pieces are used to provide immediate structural support to the vertebrae.