Brachial Plexopathy After Cervical Spine Surgery

Study Design: Retrospective, multicenter case-series study and literature review.Objectives: To determine the prevalence of brachial plexopathy after cervical spine surgery and to review the literature to better understand the etiology and risk factors of brachial plexopathy after cervical spine surgery.Methods: A retrospective case-series study of 12?903 patients at 21 different sites was performed to analyze the prevalence of several different complications, including brachial plexopathy. A literature review of the US National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health (PubMed) database was conducted to identify articles pertaining to brachial plexopathy following cervical spine surgery.Results: In our total population of 12?903 patients, only 1 suffered from postoperative brachial plexopathy. The overall prevalence rate was thus 0.01%, but the prevalence rate at the site where this complication occurred was 0.07%. Previously reported risk factors for postoperative brachial plexopathy include age, anterior surgical procedures, and a diagnosis of ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament. The condition can also be due to patient positioning during surgery, which can generally be detected via the use of intraoperative neuromonitoring.Conclusions: Brachial plexopathy following cervical spine surgery is rare and merits further study.