Experience with the Sourire Cage for cervical anterior fusion--a clinical study of 113 patients]

The standard treatment for disc diseases of the cervical spine is anterior cervical decompression and fusion (ACDF). For cervical fusion several implants are available. The aim of this study is to examine the clinical and radiographic outcome of patients treated with the Sourire Cage. Between 01.01.2008 and 26.08.2012 113 patients with degenerative disc diseases of the cervical spine underwent anterior cervical fusion with the Sourire Cage. Clinical and radiological examinations were performed two days after surgery and six weeks, six months and one year after surgery. To assess the patients we used the Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) questionnaire. At the one-year follow-up 84% of the patients had improved. Subsidence was observed in 10% of them, dislocation was not observed. The results of this study demonstrate that anterior cervical fusion with the Sourire Cage leads to excellent and good clinical outcomes with a low rate of complications.