Objective and importance: This is the first reported case of anterior cervical spinal cord tethering after anterior spinal surgery. A mechanistic hypothesis is presented to explain the observed phenomenon.
Clinical presentation: A patient developed cervical myelopathy 2 years after multiple anterior cervical discectomies complicated by cerebrospinal fluid leakage. She demonstrated reflex and motor changes as well as neuropathic pain.
Intervention: An anterior corpectomy was performed, with opening of the dura and detethering of an arachnoid band and then fusion and plating.
Conclusion: Reflex and motor changes improved, but pain did not. We hypothesize that mechanical deformation and scar formation after cerebrospinal fluid leakage may have led to tethering of the spinal cord.