Cervical Disc Arthroplasty: An Update on Current Practices

Cervical Disc Arthroplasty

Cervical Total Disc Arthroplasty

Symptomatic adjacent segment degeneration of the cervical spine remains problematic for patients and surgeons alike. Despite advances in surgical techniques and instrumentation, the solution remains elusive. Spurred by the success of total joint arthroplasty in hips and knees, surgeons and industry have turned to motion preservation devices in the cervical spine. By preserving motion at the dis...

The current state of cervical and lumbar spinal disc arthroplasty.

The growth of spinal implant and orthobiologic technologies over the last several years is increasing in tempo (Figure 1) and fast approaching the US hip and knee markets in annual dollar sales. During this time, a number of start-up and established medical device manufacturers have focused increasing resources on solutions for spinal problems. The role of the orthopaedic and neurosurgeon in th...

Artificial cervical disc replacement--an update.

Rationals for total disc replacement Dynamic reconstruction of a degenerative “functional spinal unit” (FSU) is a rapidly growing field in spinal surgery. So far anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF), first described by Smith and Robinson and by Cloward in the 1950s, is the most common surgical procedure proven successful in the treatment of symptoms caused by cervical degenerative dis...

Update on cervical disc arthroplasty: where are we and where are we going?

Despite the very good results of anterior cervical discectomy and fusion, there are concerns of adjacent level degeneration. For this reason, interest has grown in the potential for motion sparing alternatives. Cervical disc arthroplasty is thus evolving as a potential alternative to fusion. Specific design characteristic and implants will be reviewed and outcomes summarized.