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The surgery is done while the patient is deep asleep and pain-free (general anesthesia). For the neck (cervical spine), an incision may be made either in the back of the neck (posterior cervical) or in the front side of the neck (anterior cervical), depending on the location of the problem.
Review Date 11/16/2025
Updated by: C. Benjamin Ma, MD, Chair, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Dr. Peter and Sophie Pappas Endowed Chair, V-nee Yeh Endowed Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, CA. Also reviewed by David C. Dugdale, MD, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.
