Unilateral biportal endoscopic supralaminar, posterior spinous process sparing approach for en bloc cervical laminectomy in case of cervical osteochondroma causing myelopathy: A case report

Abstract

Background Context: Cervical osteochondroma is a rare cause of myelopathy. Traditional treatment is open laminectomy with or without fusion. There is limited literature on unilateral bi-portal endoscopic en-bloc resection of cervical osteochondroma. Study Design: We describe a case of a 39-year-old male diagnosed with cervical compressive myelopathy. The pathologic site is located on the ventral surface of C4 lamina. Herein we describe a step-by-step method of unilateral biportal endoscopy (UBE) en-bloc resection of extra-dural sublaminar osteochondroma for patient who had cervical myeloradiculopathy. Spinous process sparing osteotomy was performed to conserve the spinous process and supraspinous ligament.. Outcome Measures: The patient was successfully treated via UBE and the operative time was 50 minutes with no intra-operative complications. Patient symptoms improved in the immediate postoperative period and by 3 months he regained fine motor functions of hand. Conclusions: Unilateral biportal endoscopic en bloc cervical laminectomy can effectively decompress cervical spine and remove posterior benign cervical tumor. UBE preserves musculature and posterior ligamentous complex and thus reduces postoperative neck pain and postlaminectomy kyphosis.

Keywords

• Spine endoscopy
• Unilateral biportal endoscopy
• Cervical spine cervical laminectomy
• Osteochondroma
• UBE