Laminoplasty is a specific surgical procedure performed on the back of the neck to "open up" the spinal channel which contains the spinal cord on its way down to the rest of the body from the brain.
It is performed on patients whose spinal cord in the neck are being compressed (known as cervical myelopathy) for various reasons either acutely or over many years.
As the spinal cord got progressively compressed or "strangulated" within its channel like a "collapsing tunnel" it will be a matter of time before irreversible nerve damage occurs, resulting inevitably to (in sequential order of progression):
- numbness
- weakness
- loss of limb/bladder/bowel functions
- paralysis
- respiratory failure
- and eventually death
Laminoplasty (although unable to cure the abovementioned nerve damage in the short term) by opening the "collapsed tunnel", helps to stop this cascade of nerve damage by freeing the "trapped" spinal cord, preserving limb and life in the long term.
