"Open door" operation to raise the vertebral arch in myelopathy due to cervical spondylosis.

The authors discuss the various operations used in the treatment of myelopathy caused by cervical spondylosis. Recently they have used the so-called "open door" operation, which raises the posterior vertebral arch, in place of laminectomy, hemilaminectomy and anterior interbody fusion. The "open door" operation is less radical, less traumatizing and safer, and ensures considerable enlargement of the vertebral canal. This enlargement can be clearly demonstrated by tomography as well as by the traditional radiological methods.