Covering of Plate after Anterior Cervical Fusion in Patients with Complete Spinal Cord Injury to Prevent Esophageal Injury: Technical Note

Abstract

Background Esophageal injury after anterior corpectomy and fusion is a rare but life-threatening complication. It may cause mediastinitis due to anatomical continuity between the retropharyngeal space and the mediastinum, with reported high mortality rates. The acute and subacute injuries are most commonly of iatrogenic origin, while late perforation has been described several weeks to years later as a result of continuous friction or pressure of the instruments against the posterior wall of the esophagus, leading to ischemia and necrosis. This phenomenon is more common among quadriplegic patients who have undergone corpectomy and insertion of expandable or mesh cages and plate probably due to chronic erosion by hardware at the supine position. Methods Since 2015, we have applied the technique of using a patch of autologous fascia lata to cover the anterior cervical plate by suturing to the longus colli muscles in 58 quadriplegic patients; the mean follow-up was 35.2 (28–41) months. Results Since we started using this procedure, based on our follow-up at our center, there have been no cases of late esophageal perforation among quadriplegic patients. Conclusion As a technical note, it seems like this method would be able to reduce the prevalence of esophagus injury among quadriplegic patients. However, to substantiate the efficacy of this technique, long-term follow-up and larger sample size are needed because esophageal injury occurs rarely.