title: Mini Open Foraminotomy for Cervical Radiculopathy: A Comparison of Large Tubular and TrimLine Retractors.
abstract: METHODS
  Retrospective chart review.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  A comparison of mini open foraminotomy (MOF) for cervical radiculopathy using either large tubular (LT) or TrimLine (TL) retractors.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Posterior foraminotomy relieves compression of the cervical nerve root in radiculopathy patients. However, invasion of the paravertebral muscle may cause major problems in these patients. To address these problems, we performed MOF.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty cervical radiculopathy patients (16 male and 4 female) who underwent MOF between May 2004 and August 2011 were assigned to LT and TL groups. Each group contained 10 subjects. Surgical and clinical outcomes were compared.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The average operating time in the TL group was significantly shorter than that in the LT group. The final follow-up mean neck disability indices significantly improved compared to the preoperative values (LT group, 12.0±7.8 vs. 28.0±9.4; TL group, 6.0±5.9 vs. 21.9±10). The final follow-up neck pain visual analog scale (VAS) scores also decreased significantly from the preoperative of 8.0±1.5 and 2.5±2.5 to the final follow-up values of 2.2±2.2 and 1.0±2.5 in the LT and TL groups, respectively. The recovery rate for the neck pain VAS score was 70.0±31.9 in the LT group and 87.0±32.0 in the TL group, thus suggesting no significant difference between the two groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  MOF with the TL retractor is an easy and safe procedure. Furthermore, the use of the TL retractor allows for a minimally invasive and effective surgical treatment of cervical radiculopathy patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Masashi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Uehara
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Shugo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kuraishi
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Masayuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shimizu
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Shota
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ikegami
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Toshimasa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Futatsugi
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Kaoru
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Aoki
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Keijiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mukaiyama
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Ina Central Hospital, Ina, Japan.
authors.forename: Nobuhide
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ogihara
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Shinonoi General Hospital, Nagano, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hashidate
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Marunouchi Hospital, Matsumoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hirabayashi
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kato
keywords: Cervical radiculopathy; Less invasive; Mini open framinotomy; Paravertebral muscle; Postoperative neck pain