Posterior Cervical Fusion
Minimally invasive stabilization of the cervical spine from a posterior approach.
The Muscles Stay Attached.
The posterior cervical fusion performed most often here is a muscle-sparing operation, not the traditional open version. Instruments narrower than a fingertip pass between the neck muscles to reach the facet joint. The joint is opened, and an implant packed with bone graft is set across it. That implant stabilizes the level while the bone heals. The muscles are not stripped off the spine.
Most patients who need this have already had a prior fusion — either a fusion at the front of the neck that has not healed, or a fusion spanning several levels that needs support from behind. This is an addition to what was already done, not a separate large operation.
Who Is A Candidate?
Pseudarthrosis After Prior Anterior Cervical Fusion
When an anterior cervical fusion has not healed, stabilizing the joint from behind is often the most direct way to complete the fusion.
Posterior Support for Multilevel Anterior Fusion
A multilevel fusion performed from the front of the neck sometimes needs posterior support to hold the correction and share the load across several segments while the bone heals.
The Word Fusion.
If you have already had one neck surgery, hearing that you need a second fusion can sound like starting over. It isn't. In both situations above, the front of the neck has already been addressed — this step stabilizes what was done, working through small openings between the muscles rather than reopening the original approach. Dr. Hirsch will walk you through exactly what your case needs before you decide anything.
Screws and Rods.
A traditional open posterior fusion is occasionally needed — for extensive canal stenosis compressing the spinal cord across several levels, or for certain fracture patterns and instability at the top of the neck. These are uncommon in Dr. Hirsch's practice, and they are rarely elective decisions made from a website. When one of these situations applies, Dr. Hirsch explains why the more extensive approach is the right one for that specific problem.
Posterior cervical fusion is performed through small, muscle-sparing incisions using navigation guidance. Screws and rods stabilize the affected cervical levels and bone graft promotes fusion across the construct. The recovery timeline and any bracing are reviewed with you, based on the extent of the reconstruction.
Dr. Hirsch is board-certified and Yale-trained. Read his full background.