SynthesisEuropean spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society2019
Evaluation of bony fusion after anterior cervical discectomy: a systematic literature review.
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, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 46 citations in OpenAlex.
- Impact of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists on outcomes following anterior cervical discectomy and fusion: a systematic review and meta-analysis.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 · 2026Pooled it
- Speed and quality of interbody fusion in porous bioceramic AlJournal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2023Trial
- Global Variation in Fusion Assessment Practices Following Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion.Global spine journal · 2026Article
- Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion without anchoring: a multicenter comparison of stand-alone porous titanium versus anchored PEEK interbody cages.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 · 2026Article
- Evaluation of fusion status after spine fusion surgery: a comprehensive review.Asian spine journal · 2026Review
- Comparison of multilevel anterior cervical discectomy and fusion utilizing zero-profile self-locking cages versus the cage-with-plate system: a 5-year-minimum follow-up study.Asian spine journal · 2026Article
- A hydroxyapatite-based synthetic bone graft reduces intervertebral motion at 12 months, as measured by CT-RSA, in a porcine model of ACDF.Brain & spine · 2026Article
- Imaging evidence of osseous fusion of patients undergoing segmental mandibular fibular free flap reconstruction - a retrospective analysis.Journal of clinical imaging science · 2026Article
- To What Extent Do Different Criteria Influence 3-Month Fusion Evaluation in Anterior Cervical Arthrodesis Trials?Orthopaedic surgery · 2025Article
- Comparing Outcomes between Cage Alone and Plate Fixation in Single-Level Anterior Cervical Fusion: A Retrospective Clinical Series.Clinics in orthopedic surgery · 2025Article
- The Impact of Multilevel Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion on Cervical Sagittal Alignment: A Comparative Study of Single-, Two-, and Three-Level Procedures.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Association between fusion and clinical outcomes after anterior cervical discectomy at 1-, 2- and 5-year follow-up.PloS one · 2025Article
- Safety and Efficacy of Zero-Profile Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) Cages Filled with Biphasic Calcium Phosphate (BCP) in Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion (ACDF): A Case Series.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- Segmental Slope is a Predictor of Fusion Rate in Single Level Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion.Global spine journal · 2024Article
- Porous Cage Macro-Topography Improves Early Fusion Rates in Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion.Surgery research and practice · 2024Article
- Biomechanical Evaluation of Intervertebral Fusion Process After Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion: A Finite Element Study.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2022Article
- Article
- Clinical impact of 3-level anterior cervical decompression and fusion (ACDF) on the occipito-atlantoaxial complex: a retrospective study of patients who received a zero-profile anchored spacer versus cage-plate construct.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 · 2021Article
- Is there a difference in the outcomes of anterior cervical discectomy and fusion among female patients with different menopausal statuses?Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2021Article
- Is the fusion order of the cranial and caudal levels different in two-level anterior cervical discectomy and fusion for cervical spondylopathy? A retrospective study.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeAnterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) has proven effective in treating radicular arm pain. Post-operatively, cervical spine stability is temporarily challenged, but data on bony fusion and speed of fusion are ambiguous; optimum evaluation method and criteria are debated.
aimTo study bony fusion accomplishment and to obtain an overview of methods to evaluate fusion.
methodsA literature search was performed in PubMed and Embase. Included studies had to report original data concerning 1- or 2-level ACDF with intervertebral device or bone graft, where bony fusion was assessed using CT scans or X-rays.
resultsA total of 146 articles comprising 10,208 patients were included. Bony fusion was generally defined as "the presence of trabecular bridging" and/or "the absence of motion". Fusion was accomplished in 90.1% of patients at the final follow-up. No gold standard for assessment could be derived from the results. Addition of plates and/or cages with screws resulted in slightly higher accomplishment of fusion, but differences were not clinically relevant. Eighteen studies correlated clinical outcome with bony fusion, and 3 found a significant correlation between accomplishment and better clinical outcome.
conclusionsIn approximately 90% of patients, bony fusion is accomplished one year after ACDF. As there is no generally accepted definition of bony fusion, different measuring techniques cannot be compared to a gold standard and it is impossible to determine the most accurate method. Variations in study design hamper conclusions on optimising the rate of bony fusion by choice of material and/or additives. Insufficient attention is paid to correlation between bony fusion and clinical outcome. These slides can be retrieved from electronic supplementary material.
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Registered trials
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.