Abstract
Background
The transverse skin incision for anterior cervical spine surgery is not extensile, thus it must be made at the accurate level. The use of palpable bony landmarks is unreliable due to anatomical variations and pre-operative fluoroscopy to identify the level takes up operating room time, increases the radiation dose to the patient and increases the overall cost of the operation.
Objective
To describe a simple, fast and inexpensive method of accurate transverse skin incision placement for anterior cervical spine surgery and to report on its use in 54 consecutive adult patients.
Patients and Methods
In each case a ratio was recorded on the lateral cervical spine radiograph based on the distance between the clavicle and mandible and the operative level; this was then applied to measurements on the patient's neck.
Results
Procedures performed consisted of a mix of discectomy and fusion, disc replacement and combinations of both. The operative level ranged from C2-C3 to C7-T1, the most common being C5-C6. Twenty-three patients had a single-level, 26 a two level and 5 a three level procedure; all cases were performed through one single transverse incision.
Conclusion
We describe the highly successful use of a straightforward method for accurate level transverse skin incision placement for cervical spine surgery In no case was it necessary to radically extend or to make a separate incision. There were no cases where the wrong level was operated on.
