What are some of the complications associated with anterior cervical discectomy and fusion?
The most common complication is dysphagia. This means some people have difficulty with swallowing after surgery. It usually goes away with time. Other complications include formation of hematoma or seroma. Sometimes another surgery is necessary to remove them. Non-union of the fusion is another complication. In a recent study, the use of an osteoinductive protein called rhBMP-2 actually had similar complication rates, but had 100 percent fusion rate in single and multiple level cervical fusions.
