A Meta-Analysis of Surgical Outcomes in 25727 Patients Undergoing Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion or Anterior Cervical Corpectomy and Fusion for Cervical Deformity.

Study Design: Systematic Review.
Objectives: To evaluate which cervical deformity correction technique between anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) and anterior cervical corpectomy and fusion (ACCF) produces better clinical, radiographic, and operative outcomes.
Methods: We conducted a meta-analysis comparing studies involving ACDF and ACCF. Adult patients with either original or previously treated cervical spine deformities were included. Two independent reviewers categorized extracted data into clinical, radiographic, and operative outcomes, including complications. Clinical assessments included patient-reported outcomes; radiographic evaluations examined C2-C7 Cobb angle, T1 slope, T1-CL, C2-7 SVA, and graft stability. Surgical measures included surgery duration, blood loss, hospital stay, and complications.
Results: 26 studies (25727 patients) met inclusion criteria and were extracted. Of these, 14 studies (19077 patients) with low risk of bias were included in meta-analysis. ACDF and ACCF similarly improve clinical outcomes in terms of JOA and NDI, but ACDF is significantly better at achieving lower VAS neck scores. ACDF is also more advantageous for improving cervical lordosis and minimizing the incidence of graft complications. While there is no significant difference between approaches for most surgical complications, ACDF is favorable for reducing operative time, intraoperative blood loss, and length of hospital stay.
Conclusions: While both techniques benefit cervical deformity patients, when both techniques are feasible, ACDF may be superior with respect to VAS neck scores, cervical lordosis, graft complications and certain perioperative outcomes. Further studies are recommended to address outcome variability and refine surgical approach selection.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Author JJJ is an editorial board member for Children. Editor in Chief, Acra SA. Author CAM reports being a consultant for Stryker, Augmedics, DePuy Synthes, and Kuros Biosciences. Author BP consults for Pacira Biosciences and is an external advisor for McKinsey & Company. The remaining authors have no conflicts of interests or disclosures. All authors declare that this report was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships.