Introduction: Cervical degenerative pathology can produce pain and disability and, in case of failure of conservative treatment surgery is indicated.
Materials and methods: 107 patients affected by single level cervical degenerative pathology were surgically treated by Cloward procedure. On radiographs, the sagittal segmental alignment (SSA) of the affected level and sagittal alignment of the cervical spine were measured.
Results: Preoperatively, mean SSA was 0.6° and at the last follow-up 1.8°. In particular, adjacent-level degeneration occurred more frequently in Group A than in Group B.
Conclusion: Lordotic SSA angle can be considered a protective factor against adjacent-level degeneration.