BACKGROUND: Many studies have shown that different types of anterior cervical surgery in the treatment of two-level contiguous cervical disc herniation can obtain satisfactory results, but which method is the best has not yet reached a consensus. OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy and safety of three types of anterior cervical surgery for treating two-level contiguous cervical disc herniation. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed clinical data of 62 patients with two-level contiguous cervical disc herniation who underwent anterior decompression and fusion. These patients were assigned to three groups. Bone graft group received anterior cervical discectomy with autogenous iliac bone graft fusion. Titanium mesh group received anterior cervical corpectomy with titanium mesh fusion. Cage group received anterior cervical discectomy with cage fusion. Fusion rate of bone graft and improvement of neurological function (Japanese Orthopaedic Association Scores) were evaluated and compared after treatment in the three groups. Cervical vertebra anteroposterior and lateral images were used to measure height of anterior and posterior margin of vertebral body and Cobb angle changes of fusion segment. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Al 62 patients were fol owed up and the fol ow-up time was ranged from 8 to 30 months. Operation time was significantly longer in the bone graft group than in the titanium mesh and Cage groups (P < 0.05). Intraoperative blood loss was larger in the bone graft group than in the titanium mesh and Cage groups (P < 0.05). Japanese Orthopaedic Association Scores were significantly improved after treatment (P < 0.05). No significant difference was found at different time points (P > 0.05). The fusion rate of bone graft was higher in the bone graft group than in the titanium mesh and Cage groups (P < 0.05) at 3 months after treatment, and bone union was found in the final fol ow-up. Height of anterior and posterior margin of vertebral body was significantly increased after treatment (P < 0.05). No significant difference in the increase of the height of anterior margin was detected among the three groups (P > 0.05). The increase in the height of posterior margin was higher in the Cage group than in the bone graft group and titanium mesh group (P < 0.05). Vertebral height loss of the anterior margin was higher in the bone graft group than in the titanium mesh and Cage groups, but vertebral height loss of the posterior margin was highest in the bone graft group, fol owed by titanium mesh group and Cage group at 3 months after treatment (P < 0.05). The increase value of Cobb angle was higher in the titanium mesh group than in the bone graft group and Cage group (P < 0.05). At 3 months after treatment, the altered value of Cobb angle was highest in the bone graft group, fol owed by titanium mesh group and Cage group (P < 0.05). No significant difference in the height of anterior and posterior margins of the vertebral body and Cobb angle was detectable between final fol ow-up and 3 months post-treatment (P > 0.05). These findings indicated that the three kinds of fusion method for treating two-level contiguous cervical disc herniation could obviously lessen nervous systems and improve cervical vertebra functions. In the bone graft group, operation time was long. Intraoperative blood loss was more. Postoperative height loss of the posterior margin of the vertebral body was visible. Cervical lordosis could be easily induced. Compared with the bone graft group, titanium mesh and Cage groups could better maintain the height and curvature of the cervical vertebra, but the Cage group had apparent advantages.

BACKGROUND:Currently, discectomy, fusion or decompression is considered an effective and conventional method for the treatment of spinal disease. Although there have been many reports on the adverse effects of diabetes on spinal surgery, but there are stil some differences. OBJECTIVE:To systematical y evaluate the observational studies and case-control studies about the effect of diabetes on the complications of spinal surgery. METHODS:The control ed and comparative studies regarding the effect of diabetes on the results and complications of spinal surgery were searched from the database according to the inclusion criteria. The observed indicators including mortality, revision rate, surgical site infection, the incidence of venous thrombosis, blood loss, operative time and hospitalization time. Two authors participated in extracting the data and evaluating the methodology and quality of the included studies. Meta-analysis was conducted according to the guidelines of epidemiological observational studies (MOOSE). The risk assessment of the extracted data was conducted using RevMan 5.2 software. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Eighteen literatures, involving 2 824 063 patients, were eventual y enrol ed. The experimental result showed that the mortality, surgical site infection, incidence of venous thrombosis of diabetic patients after the spinal surgery were significantly higher than those of non-diabetic patients;the hospital stay was significantly longer than that of non-diabetic patients (P<0.05). There were no significant differences in the risk of revision, intraoperative blood loss and operation time between diabetic patients and non-diabetic patients (P>0.05). These results suggest that diabetic patients take a higher risk once accepting the spinal surgery than the non-diabetic patients. Diabetes increases the risks of postoperative mortality, surgical site infection, venous thrombosis and hospitalization time after spinal surgery.