Background: The surgical techniques of interbody fusion and vertebral body replacement represent two concurrent options for multilevel anterior decompression and arthrodesis of the cervical spine.
Patients and methods: In a retrospective study the data from 61 patients who received either interbody fusion (n = 38) as anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) or vertebral body replacement (n = 23) (as anterior cervical corpectomy and fusion (ACCF) because of degenerative disc disease of the cervical spine were collected.
Results: The clinical outcome was better at all time points in the patient group with ACDF than in those with ACCF but with no statistically significant differences. The operated segments showed a more rapid fusion progress after ACDF during the time course in comparison to ACCF; however, there was no relationship between the grade of fusion and the clinical result.
Conclusion: In direct comparison multisegmental interbody fusion showed better results with respect to the clinical outcome and bony fusion with a lower rate of complications than vertebral body replacement. However, the differences did not reach statistical significance.