PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Andelman, Steven M.
AU  - McAnany, Steven J.
AU  - Qureshi, Sheeraz A.
AU  - Hecht, Andrew C.
TI  - Bilateral C5 Motor Palsy after Anterior Cervical Decompression and Fusion: A Case Report and Review of the Literature
AID  - 10.14444/4014
DP  - 2017 Jan 01
TA  - International Journal of Spine Surgery
PG  - 14
VI  - 11
IP  - 2
4099  - https://www.ijssurgery.com/content/11/2/14.short
4100  - https://www.ijssurgery.com/content/11/2/14.full
SO  - Int J Spine Surg2017 Jan 01; 11
AB  - Background Bilateral C5 motor palsy is a rare but potentially debilitating complication after cervical spine decompression with very few reports in the published literature.Purpose To present a case of bilateral C5 motor palsy after anterior cervical decompression and fusion and discuss the incidence and risk factors of this complication.Study Design/Setting We report a case of a 57-year-old male who underwent a three level C3-C6 anterior cervical discectomy and fusion with instrumentation who developed a postoperative bilateral C5 motor palsy.Methods A review of the literature was performed regarding reports on and incidence of post-operative bilateral C5 palsy following either anterior or posterior cervical spine decompression.Results Bilateral C5 motor palsy is a rare complication of cervical spine decompression with an overall incidence of 0.38%. Although a group of risk factors have been suggested no single cause has been identified.Conclusions Bilateral C5 motor palsy is a rare but debilitating complication of cervical decompression.