Cervical spondylitic myelopathies: surgical treatment.

The surgical approach to the treatment of cervical spondylitic myelopathy has been one of major controversy, both clinically and in the literature. We present here the results of a retrospective analysis of 206 patients treated by the authors over a 7-year period by either a posterior or anterior approach. Our results suggest that if the procedure is tailored to the cause as well as extent of the problem, similarly good results can be obtained by either surgical approach.