Objective To compare the effects of anterior cervical interbody fusion cage (ROI-C) placement and traditional surgical method on JOA score and Cobb angle in cervical disc herniation (CDH). Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on 94 patients with CDH who underwent anterior cervical approach treatment from June 2016 to June 2017 in Oriental Hospital of Beijing University of traditional Chinese medicine, including 41 patients in ROI-C group and 53 patients in traditional group. The surgery related indexes, neck dysfunction index (NDI) score, Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score and cervical curvature (Cobb angle) were compared between the two groups, and the bone graft fusion rate and surgical complications were counted and compared with the last followup results. Results The surgery time in ROI-C group was significantly shorter than that in traditional group (P＜0.05), and there were no significant differences in the intraoperative blood loss and surgical incision length compared with those in traditional group (P＞0.05). The NDI score, JOA score and Cobb angle at 1 month after surgery, at 3 months after surgery and at the last follow-upwere significantly better than those before surgery (P＜0.05), and there were no significant differences in the NDI score, JOA score and Cobb angle between ROI-C group and traditional group (P＞0.05). There was no significant difference in the postoperative bone graft fusion rate between the two groups (P＞0.05). The incidence rates of dysphagia and adjacent segment degeneration in ROIC group were significantly lower than those in traditional group (P＜0.05). Conclusion Anterior cervical approach ROI-C placement and traditional surgical method both can effectively treat CDH. There are no significant differences in the clinical efficacy, cervical curvature and bone graft fusion rate, but ROI-C placement has shorter surgery time, and lower incidence rates of complications of dysphagia and adjacent segment degeneration.