Cervical spondylosis and syringomyelia: suboptimal results, incomplete treatment, and the role of intraoperative ultrasound.

The pathophysiology of cervical spondylotic myelopathy and syringomyelia is incompletely understood. Only 50-60% of the former group of patients and only 30-40% of the latter group of patients show long-term improvement. One possible cause for this might be continued anterior compression of the spinal cord in the former and incomplete drainage of the fluid-filled cavities in the latter. Intraoperative ultrasound imaging can be done in the operating room (4-6, 16-18) and can identify whether an adequate decompression has been done in patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy and whether there has been complete drainage in shunting of patients with syringomyelia. Intraoperative ultrasound imaging aids the neurosurgeon in checking to see if he did what he set out to do. It is useful in operative procedures for cervical spondylotic myelopathy and syringomyelia.