Two-year results of single-level fixation with lateral mass screws for cervical degenerative spondylolisthesis: patient series

BACKGROUND: In surgery for cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) with spondylolisthesis, there is no consensus on the correction and fixation for spondylolisthesis. The authors retrospectively studied whether the correction of single-level fixation with lateral mass screws (LMSs) could be maintained. OBSERVATIONS: The records of patients with CSM with spondylolisthesis who had been treated with posterior decompression and single-level fusion with LMSs from 2017 to 2021 were retrospectively reviewed. Radiographic measurements included cervical parameters such as C2–7 lordosis, T1 slope, and the degree of spondylolisthesis (percent slippage) before surgery, immediately after surgery, and at the final observation. Ten cases (mean age 72.8 ± 7.8 years) were included in the final analysis, and four cases (40%) were on hemodialysis. The median observation period was 26.5 months (interquartile range, 12–35.75). The mean percent slippage was 16.8% ± 4.7% before surgery, 5.3% ± 4.0% immediately after surgery, and 6.5% ± 4.7% at the final observation. Spearman’s rank correlation showed a moderate correlation between preoperative slippage magnitude and correction loss (r = 0.659; p = 0.038). Other parameters showed no correlation with correction loss. LESSONS: For CSM with spondylolisthesis, single-level fixation with LMSs achieved and maintained successful correction in the 2-year observation.