The investigators believe that the transection of the omohyoid during an anterior cervical discectomy and fusion decreases the incidence of dysphagia in patients who undergo this procedure when compared to patients who do not have the omohyoid transected.
The target population is female and male patients between 21 - 85 years old undergoing multilevel anterior cervical decompression and fusion.
Patients with a history of preoperative dysphagia, those with conditions that expose them to high risk of postoperative dysphagia (such as motor neuron disease), and those with cervical non-degenerative pathology, such as tumor or trauma as well as those who have lost to follow up, will be excluded from the study.