Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26733015›Full record

SynthesisEuropean spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society2020

Vertebral body fracture after anterior cervical discectomy and fusion with zero-profile anchored cages in adjacent levels: a cautionary tale.

Tobias A Mattei, Alisson R Teles, Dzung H Dinh

Abstract readCase ReportsSystematic Review
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
1.3field-weighted citation impact, top 21% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 11 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Anterior-posterior difference of MRI-based cervical vertebral bone quality score independently predicts overloaded vertebral body wedge deformity after anterior cervical discectomy and fusion.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2026
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  2. Article
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  6. Comparison of a zero-profile anchored spacer (ROI-C) and the polyetheretherketone (PEEK) cages with an anterior plate in anterior cervical discectomy and fusion for multilevel cervical spondylotic myelopathy.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2016
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Tobias A MatteiDepartment of Neurosurgery, Brain and Spine Center/InvisionHealth, 400 International Drive, Buffalo, NY, 14221, USA. tmattei@invisionhealth.com.
Alisson R TelesNeurosurgery Unit, Hospital São José-Santa Casa de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Dzung H DinhDepartment of Neurosurgery, The University of Illinois at Peoria, Peoria, IL, USA.
Peoria campus of the University of Illinois System · USSanta Casa Hospital · BR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

background contextZero-profile (also called self-locking, anchored or stand-alone cages) have been recently proposed as an interesting alternative for anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF), as they are supposed to reduce the rates of post-operative cage extrusion without necessarily incurring in the additional surgical time and increased rates of dysphagia associated with plating. Nevertheless, the exact indications of zero-profile anchored cages have not yet been established in the literature. PURPOSE: To report the first case of a vertebral body fracture between the blades of zero-profile anchored cages after ACDFs in adjacent levels and to review the available literature on hardware-related complications after multi-level ACDFs with zero-profile anchored cages. STUDY

designCase report and systematic literature review.

methodsThe authors report the first case of a vertebral body fracture between the blades of zero-profile anchored cages after ACDFs in adjacent levels. The patient presented with refractory mechanical neck pain at the 1-month post-operative follow-up, ultimately requiring a posterior instrumented fusion. A comprehensive systematic literature review on the available data regarding the safety, complications as well as radiological and clinical outcomes of zero-profile anchored cages is also performed.

resultsIn the reported case, the use of zero-profile anchored cages in adjacent levels on the cervical spine led to a fracture of the vertebral body between the cages at the 1-month follow-up, with anterior avulsion of the part of the vertebral body where the blades from the two cages converged. According to the systematic literature review which included 409 patients from 10 different clinical series (with a total cumulative follow-up of approximately 535 patients-year), there were only two reported hardware-related complications after ACDF with zero-profile anchored cages, none of them involving fracture at the level of convergence of blades or screws.

conclusionsAlthough hardware-related complications after the use of zero-profile anchored cages seem to be rare events, future biomechanical and clinical studies are warranted in order to evaluate the safety of employing such devices for the treatment of multilevel degenerative disc disease in the cervical spine.

Indexed as

Deglutition DisordersSpinal FusionCervical VertebraeDiskectomyHumansVertebral BodyAnchored cagesAnterior cervical discectomy and fusionAnterior cervical platingSelf-locking cagesZero-profile cages

Identifiers

PMID26733015
OpenAlexW2222731622

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.