Abstract
The efficacy of a new cervico-thoracic Neck-Chest brace (N-C brace) prepared for post-operative patients of cervical canal expansive laminoplasty was assessed. The orthosis is light in weight (300 g) and easy to fit. The effect of the orthosis to restrict the neck motion was studied in 10 normal young males by using lateral view radiographs in extension and flexion positions. The average range of the neck motion for the N-C brace was 24.4% of the values obtained without the orthosis. The restriction of the motion was significantly better than that without orthosis. Then, the clinical efficacy of the N-C brace was assessed in 40 patients of cervical spondylotic myelopathy who underwent expansive laminoplasty. Alignment changes of the postoperative cervical spine was found only in 10% of the patients who had a straight and kyphotic curvature pattern in the cervical spine before operation. The cervical alignments in the other 90% of patients were not changed post-operatively. These data clearly demonstrated that the N-C brace effectively controls the neck motion and is recommended for patients who have a lordotic curvature pattern in the cervical spine to prevent the post-surgical changes in the alignment after expansive laminoplasty.