Anterior cervical spinal cord tethering after anterior spinal surgery: case report.

Abstract

This is the first reported case of anterior cervical spinal cord tethering after anterior spinal surgery. A mechanistic hypothesis is presented to explain the observed phenomenon. A patient developed cervical myelopathy 2 years after multiple anterior cervical discectomies complicated by cerebrospinal fluid leakage. She demonstrated reflex and motor changes as well as neuropathic pain. An anterior corpectomy was performed, with opening of the dura and detethering of an arachnoid band and then fusion and plating. Reflex and motor changes improved, but pain did not. We hypothesize that mechanical deformation and scar formation after cerebrospinal fluid leakage may have led to tethering of the spinal cord.