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LAMINOPLASTY

Cervical laminoplasty is performed to relieve compression on the spinal cord and nerves due to cervical spinal stenosis (narrowing). Cervical stenosis can cause pain in the neck and/or arms, imbalance, clumsiness of hands, and/or hyperreflexia of arms and/or legs. The laminoplasty procedure creates more room within the spinal column by opening the lamina on one side and holding it open with metal plates. Laminoplasty preserves motion at the operated segment, therefore, is a good alternative to a fusion operation.

Case Study

Here is an example of laminoplasty procedure performed on a patient with symptomatic cervical stenosis. He is assymptomatic at 1 year post-procedure.

Figure 1.

Pre-op lateral x-ray which demonstrates neutral curvature of the cervical spine with no instability.

Figure 2.

Pre-op MRI shows cervical stenosis with loss of spinal fluid (white) posterior (behind) the spinal cord (dark).

Figure 3.

Post-op lateral x-ray shows expansion of spinal canal with trap-door laminoplasty procedure being held open with metal plates and screws.

Figure 4.

Post-op MRI shows restoration of
spinal canal size and spinal fluid posterior to spinal cord.