• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.168-172
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• 2007

Objective : Hirabayashi's open-door laminoplasty is a good procedure to use to treat patients with myelopathy of the cervical spine; however, the authors have experienced problems in maintaining an open-window in cervical spines after the surgery. The authors developed a modified method of the expanded open-door laminoplasty and compared the radiological and clinical results with those of the classical method. Methods : In the modified method, wiring fixation with lateral mass screws on the contra lateral-side instead of fixing the paraspinal muscle or facet joint, as in the classical methods, was used in the open window of the cervical spine. Fifteen patients with cervical myelopathy were treated using the classical method and 12 patients were treated using the modified method. Preoperative and postoperative clinical conditions were assessed according to the Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) score. The radiological results were compared with the preoperative and postoperative computed tomography (CT) findings. Results : In both methods, the clinical results revealed a significant improvement in neurological function (p<0.001). Image analysis revealed that the cervical canals were continuously expanded in patients treated using the modified methods. However, authors have observed restenosis during the follow-up periods in 4 patients treated using the original method. Progression to deformity and spinal instability were not observed in any of the patients in the radiological results. Conclusion : Although analysis with a larger population and a longer follow-up period needs to be undertaken, our modified open-door laminoplasty has shown an advantage in better maintaining an open window in comparison with the Hirabayashi's open-door laminoplasty.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.87-94
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• 2000

Objective : Various surgical approaches have been implemented to fulfill the ideal goals of treatment for cervical spondylotic lesions. Conventional approaches are represented by anterior approach with or without fusion and posterior approach. The authors has applied newly developed anterior cervical microforaminotomy for these lesions on minimally invasive basis. Materials and Method : Twenty-one patients, with cervical HIVD, or stenosis, or both, underwent anterior cervical microforaminotomy between March, 1998 and April, 1999. Fifteen patients underwent unilateral decompression, and 6 bilateral decompression via unilateral foraminotomy. Operation of one level was performed in 16 patients, 2 levels in 4 patients, and 3 in 1 patient. The foraminotomy was accomplished by resecting the uncovertebral joint. Through this hole, compressed nerve root was decompressed by removing the spondylotic spur or disc fragment, and diagonal removing of posterior osteophyte from foraminotomy site to begining of contralateral nerve root made spinal cord decompression. Results : The outcome was excellent in 17 patients(81%) and good in 4 patients(19%) based on Odom's criteria. No complication was encounterd, and average post-operation hospital stay was 3.7 days. Conclusions : These results indicate that anterior cervical microforaminotomy provide adequate neural decompression, minimum postoperative discomfort and fast recovery.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.57 no.1
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• pp.36-41
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• 2015

Objective : To investigate the causes for failed anterior cervical surgery and the outcomes of secondary laminoplasty. Methods : Seventeen patients failed anterior multilevel cervical surgery and the following conservative treatments between Feb 2003 and May 2011 underwent secondary laminoplasty. Outcomes were evaluated by the Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) Scale and visual analogue scale (VAS) before the secondary surgery, at 1 week, 2 months, 6 months, and the final visit. Cervical alignment, causes for revision and complications were also assessed. Results : With a mean follow-up of $29.7{\pm}12.1$ months, JOA score, recovery rate and excellent to good rate improved significantly at 2 months (p< 0.05) and maintained thereafter (p>0.05). Mean VAS score decreased postoperatively (p<0.05). Lordotic angle maintained during the entire follow up (p>0.05). The causes for secondary surgery were inappropriate approach in 3 patients, insufficient decompression in 4 patients, adjacent degeneration in 2 patients, and disease progression in 8 patients. Complications included one case of C5 palsy, axial pain and cerebrospinal fluid leakage, respectively. Conclusion : Laminoplasty has satisfactory results in failed multilevel anterior surgery, with a low incidence of complications.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.264-279
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• 2002

Objective : Ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament(OPLL) is considered kind of degenerative disease usually found in the cervical vertebrae. Most of cases of OPLL have radiculopathy, myelopathy or both of them such as neck pain, numbness, myatonia. These symptoms seems to be similar with those of HIVD(Herniated intervertebral disc), sprain, spondylosis of C-spine. Lost of patients who have those symptoms are visiting oriental medicine hospital, clinic so we thought that making differential diagnosis, treating and prognosing might be needed with acupuncture, Herb medication. Methods : We examined the 3 patients of OPLL who visited Dong-in-dang Oriental Medicine Hospital from 1st November 1999 to 1st February 2002. We treated patients of OPLL with Oriental Medicine care (Acupuncture, Herb medication, Negative treatment) based on oriental diagnosis of neck pain(項强痛), numbness(痺證), myatonia. Results : clinical grade of 3 cases was all Gr III. After treated with oriental medical care, 2 cases were evaluated poor, I cases were evaluated fair and resulted in Clinical grade II. Conclusions : Treating OPLL with oriental medical carte was very difficult to palliate symptoms, to stop progress of OPLL. We might need to reconsider oriental medical care as conservative treatment for OPLL.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.129-136
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• 2014

The "WuQinXi" exercise, one of the medical Qi-gongs, is an exercise maximizing human's self healing power and has been confirmed to be effective significantly at several modern researches. There are many exercise therapies in western medcine, such as Willams's flexion exercise, Mckenzie's extension exercise, vertebral stabilization exercise and so on. However, there isn't a special exercise therapy which can be applied for medical practice in oriental medicine. So we selected 24 motions which are related with lumbar movements from 3 type "WuQinXi" exercises ; 20 mode, 30 mode, and 40 mode. And then, we classified them according to lumbar movements as flexion, extention, lateral bending and rotation, and also functions as stabilization and rubbing. Next, with these classifications, we assorted them by kinds of lumbar spinal disease as HIVD(herniation of intervertebral disc), spinal stenosis, spondylolysis and spondylolisthesis, facet joint syndrome, compression fracture and spondylosis. We expect that "WuQinXi" exercise be a exercise therapy for lumbar spinal disease at an oriental medical clinic in this way. Oriental medical doctors will be able to teach easily patients "WuQinXi" exercise's motions at clinic, depending on kinds of lumbar spinal disease each patient suffers from. We plan to study the effect of "WuQinXi" exercise by comparing patients who do the "WuQinXi" exercise with the patients who do the western medical exercise therapy.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.63 no.6
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• pp.767-776
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• 2020

Objective : The aim of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of posterior cervical foraminotomy (PCF) for adjacent segmental disease (ASD) after anterior cervical fusion (ACF). As ACF is accepted as the standard treatment for cervical spondylosis, many studies have been conducted to evaluate the efficacy of various surgical techniques to overcome symptomatic ASD after the previous surgery. Herein, PCF was performed for the treatment of symptomatic ASD and the feasibility of the surgery was evaluated. Methods : Forty nine patients who underwent PCF due to symptomatic ASD from August 2008 to November 2017 were identified. For demographic and perioperative data, the sex, age, types of previous surgery, ASD levels, operation times, and bleeding amount were recorded. The clinical outcome was assessed using the visual analogue scale for the neck and arm, the modified Odom's criteria as well as neck disability index. Radiologic evaluations were performed by measuring disc softness, disc height, the cervical 2-7 sagittal vertical axis, cervical cobb angle, and facet violation. Results : Thirty-seven patients were enrolled in this study. The patients were divided into two groups based on the location of the pathology; paracentral (group P) or foramina (group F). Both groups showed significant clinical improvement (p<0.05). The proportion of calcified disc and facet violations was significantly larger in group F (p<0.05). The minimal disc height decrease with mild improvement on sagittal alignment and cervical lordosis was radiologically measured without statistical significance in both groups (p>0.05). Conclusion : PCF showed satisfactory clinical and radiologic outcomes for both paracentral and foraminal pathologies of ASD after ACF. Complications related to anterior revision were also avoided. PCF can be considered a feasible and safe surgical option for ASD after ACF.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.300-304
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• 2009

Objective : This is retrospective study of clinical and radiological outcomes of anterior cervical fusion using Bongros-$HA^{TM}$ (BioAlpha, Seongnam, Korea) which is a type of synthetic hydroxyapatite (HA) spacer to evaluate the efficacy in its clinical application and usefulness as a reliable alternative to autograft bone. Methods : Twenty-nine patients were enrolled in this study and 40 segments were involved. All patients were performed anterior cervical interbody fusion using HA spacer and plating system. Indications for surgery were radiculopathy caused by soft-disc herniation or spondylosis in 18 patients, spondylotic myelopathy in 1 patient, and spinal trauma in 10 patients. Cervical spine radiographs were obtained on postoperative 1day, 1week, and then at 1, 2, 6, and 12 months in all patients to evaluate intervertebral disc height, and the degrees of lordosis. Cervical computed tomography was done at postoperative 12 month in all patients to confirm the fusion status. The mean period of clinical follow-up was 17 months. Results : Complete interbody fusion was achieved in 100% of patients. Preoperative kyphotic deformities were corrected in all cases after surgery. Intervertebral disc height was well maintained during follow up period. There were no cases of graft extrusion, graft deterioration and graft fracture. Conclusion : HA spacer is very efficient in achieving cervical fusion, maintaining intervertebral disc height, and restoring lordosis. When combined with the placement of a cervical plate, immediate stability can be achieved and graft related complication can be prevented.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.59 no.4
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• pp.374-378
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• 2016

Objective : A modified surgical technique of posterior cervical foramintomy called posterior cervical inclinatory foraminotomy (PCIF) was introduced in previous preliminary article. PCIF allows better preservation of facet joint and capsule than conventional techniques. The authors conducted a study to investigate long-term outcomes of PCIF. Methods : We retrospectively reviewed demographic, radiologic, and clinical data from the patients who underwent PCIFs at our institution. Criteria included a minimum of 48 month follow-up and PCIFs for patients with radiculopathy from foraminal stenosis (C2-T1; single or multilevel) with persistent or recurrent root symptoms despite conservative treatment for more than 3 months. Patients who had undergone previous cervical operation were excluded. The visual analogue scale (VAS) score was used for clinical follow-up, and radiologic follow-up was performed to compare the changes of cervical sagittal alignment, focal angle and disc-space height of treated segment. Results : The PCIFs were performed between April 2007 and March 2011 on 46 patients (32 males and 14 females) with a total of 73 levels affected. The average duration of follow-up was 74.4 months. Improvements in radiculopathic pain were seen in 39 patients (84.7%), and VAS score decreased from $6.82{\pm}1.9$ to $2.19{\pm}1.9$. Posterior neck pain also improved in 25 patients (71.4%) among 35 patients, and VAS score decreased from $4.97{\pm}2.0$ to $2.71{\pm}1.9$. The mean disc-space heights of treated segment were $5.41{\pm}1.03mm$ preoperatively and decreased to $5.17{\pm}1.12mm$ postoperatively. No statistically significant changes in cervical sagittal alignment, focal angle were seen during the follow-up period (Cox proportional hazards analysis and Student t-test, p>0.05). Conclusion : The PCIF is highly effective in treating patients with cervical spondylotic radiculopathy, leading to long-lasting relief in pain. Long-term radiologic follow-up showed no significant spinal angular imbalance.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.75-80
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• 2003

Lumbar spinal stenosis results from the progressive combined narrowing of the central spinal canal, the neurorecesses, and the neuroforaminal canals. In the absence of prior surgery, tumor, or infection, the spinal canal may become narrowed by bulging or protrusion of the intervertebral disc annulus, herniation of the nucleus pulposis posteriorly, thickening of the posterior longitudinal ligament, hypertrophy of the ligamentum flavum, epidural fat deposition, spondylosis of the intervertebral disc margins, or a combination of two or more of the above factors. Patients with spinal stenosis become symptomatic when pain, motor weakness, paresthesia, or other neurologic compromise causes distress. In one case, we administrated oriental medical treatment with acupuncture treatment and herb-medicine. Oriental medical treatment showed desirable effect on lumbar spinal stenosis.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.91-100
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• 2001

Objective : The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of the osteoporosis in low back pain(LBP). Methods : We use method of projection with Quantitative computed tomography(QCT) to estimate Bone mineral density(BMD) of lumbar spine more precisely. From January 1999 to August 2000 we studied lumbar BMD of 46 women with LBP and 53 women with non-LBP, musculoskeletal symptoms who visited Dong-Guk University Bundang Hospital by QCT. Results : 1. Lumbar BMDs in women with LBP and women with non-LBP, musculoskeletal symptom were lower than in normal women and BMDs in women with LBP was higher than in women with non-LBP, musculoskeletal symptom but the significant difference was not revealed between two group in statistics(p<0.05).. 2. Radiological study shows that the number of degenerative spondylosis was 19, compression fracture was 11, non-radiological study was 10, normal was 5 in women with LBP. 3. Radiological study shows that the number of degenerative change was 7, compression fracture was zero, non-radiological study was 33, normal was 5 in women with non-LBP, musculoskeletal symptom. Conclusion : BMDs in women with LBP was higher than in women with non-LBP, musculoskeletat symptom but the significant difference was not revealed between two group in statistics(p<0.05).