Early Experience With the 'Cervifix' Modular Tension System

Biodun Ogungbo, MD
A. Taba, MD
A. Jafri, MD
C. Gerber, MD

Objectives:

There is little published experience with the 'CerviFix' (Synthes, Stratec Medical, UK) modular tension band system for posterior fixation of the cervical spine. We set out to review our early experiences with the system and report on the outcome of cervical spine fixation for unstable necks.

Materials and Method:

The clinical and operative details of patients who have undergone posterior cervical spine fixation using the 'CerviFix' system were analysed. The radiological features and follow–up were evaluated for the outcome data. The outcome factors used were operative morbidity and mortality and spinal stability.

Results:

Eight patients had 'CerviFix' fixation with a follow–up period of 1–36 months. The average age was 65 years with a range from 23–77 years. The indications for surgery were instability due to trauma in 2 patients, degenerative disease in 4 and tumours in 2 patients. One of our patients had an extradural hematoma not requiring surgery, and a screw in the lateral mass of a thoracic (TI) fixation broke. No operative mortality occurred though one patient with metastatic prostatic tumour died after one month due to pneumonia.

Conclusion:

'CerviFix' is effective to maintain adequate stability of the unstable cervical spine. The cases are presented for discussion. There is a paucity of published results and it is probably too early to fully evaluate the long term efficacy of such fixation.