Anterior surgery of the lower cervical spine.

The authors discuss the advantages and the limits of using an anterior approach to lower cervical spine; indications, surgical access, the use of bone graft for stabilization, and postoperative treatment are described. Based on their experience, the authors believe the Cloward method, involving decompression-fusion by autologous cylindrical dowel bone graft, to be an ideal method in the treatment of cases of soft central disc hernia, hard hernia, the outcome of progressive instability, and in inflammatory and neo-plastic lesions of the vertebral body.