Safety and efficacy of cervical laminoplasty using a piezosurgery device compared with a high-speed drill

BACKGROUND: Piezosurgery is a relatively new osteotomy technique using microvibrations of scalpels at ultrasonic frequencies to perform safe and effective osteotomies without damage to adjacent soft tissue, which is widely used in spinal, oral, and maxillofacial surgery. We hypothesized that such a device could also be useful in cervical laminoplasty. The purpose of this study was to compare the safety and efficacy of a piezosurgery device with those of a highspeed drill in cervical laminoplasty. METHODS: A prospectively randomized clinical study was designed. Forty-two consecutive patients were enrolled in the study. All patients underwent modified expansive open-door laminoplasty and were randomly divided into 2 groups according to the instrument for transection of the lamina, using high-speed drill (drill group) or piezosurgery device (piezosurgery group). The operation time, intraoperative blood loss, and postoperative drainage were recorded. Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) score and visual analogue scale (VAS) as clinical assessments were quantified. RESULTS: No significant difference was observed in the operation time between the 2 groups. In the piezosurgery group, there were less loss of the intraoperative blood and postoperative drainage compared with the drill group. However, clinical results (VAS and JOA scores) showed no significant difference between both groups during the all follow-up periods. CONCLUSION: The piezosurgery is a useful instrument and at least as safe and efficacious as the conventional high-speed drill in cervical laminoplasty.