Anterior Cervical Discectomy

In a way, this is a spinal decompression and fusion procedure. The difference is that it is performed from the front of the spine, as opposed to the most common decompression and fusion procedures, which are generally performed from the back. Also, as indicated by the name, it is performed on the neck. It has earned a separate position on this list because it is very commonly performed. Indications include nerves or the spinal cord pinching in the cervical spine. This part of the spine is vulnurable to compression of neurological structures coming from the disc, so we remove the disc, restore the disc space by putting a spacer between the vertebrae and use instrumentation to accelerate healing of the vertebrae with each other, so-called fusion. This is another procedure that combines decompression and spine stabilization.