• Kaifeng Gan, Jie Li, Wei Wu, Chenjie Xia, Ting Zhang, Mingguang Bi, Ke Zhou, Jin Li, and Dingli Xu.
• Orthopedic Department, The Affiliated Lihuili Hospital of Ningbo University, Ningbo, China.
• World Neurosurg. 2022 Aug 1; 164: e574-e581.

BackgroundDysphagia, mostly resulting from prevertebral soft tissue swelling (PSTS), is a common and refractory complication of anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF). Although the symptoms are mild and moderate in most cases, severe dysphagia can incur significant mental burdens and morbidity in some patients. This retrospective study aims to analyze the effect of absorbable collagen sponge and steroid injection (ACS-SI) for patients with ACDF.MethodsA total of 150 patients in the ACS-SI group and 175 in the ACDF without absorbable collagen sponge and steroid injection (ANCS-SI) group were enrolled in this study from the Affiliated Lihuili Hospital of Ningbo University from January 2018 to November 2020. Baseline characteristics and operation parameters were collected from medical records. Swallowing function was evaluated by the Swallowing-Quality of Life (SWAL-QOL) survey, odynophagia was assessed by visual analog scale (VAS), and prevertebral soft tissue swelling index (PSTSI) was measured.ResultsThere was no significant difference in baseline characteristics and operation parameters between the 2 groups. The improvement of PSTSI and recovery of swallowing function in the ACS-SI group was better than that in the ANCS-SI group at 1 day and 1-month follow-up visit (P < 0.05). The VAS score was significantly higher at 2 and 7 days after operation in the ANCS-SI group than that in the ACS-SI group (6.61 ± 0.68 vs. 5.52 ± 0.74 and 4.23 ± 0.90 vs. 2.08 ± 0.56, P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in clinical outcomes between the 2 groups after 1 month (P > 0.05).ConclusionsThe use of ACS-SI is beneficial to relieve postoperative odynophagia, reduce PSTS, and recover swallow function.Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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