Can Artificial Total Disc Replacement in the Neck Prevent Problems at Adjacent Discs?

Thursday, October 27, 2016 | Boston, MA, USA

Artificial total disc replacement surgery for painful herniated discs in the neck is an alternative to the traditional treatment of discectomy and fusion.

While fusion surgery is generally successful for treating herniated discs in the neck it comes at the expense of lost motion between two vertebra. Lack of movement at one disc will increase stress and strain at the adjacent discs. The disc adjacent to a fusion can degenerate faster and may become painful and require additional surgical intervention.

Dr McConnell recently reported the long term beneficial effects of total disc replacement in the neck at the North American Spine Society Meeting in Boston. The presentation was entitled: Motion Preservation at the Operative Level and the Incidence of Symptomatic Adjacent Segment Disease after Treatment with Secure-C or ACDF. This study followed 380 patients with herniated discs treated with either total disc replacement (Secure-C artificial disc) or fusion to see what happened to the adjacent discs after 7-years. Of the patients who had fusion in their neck 17.4% had additional surgery at an adjacent disc while only 4.2% of the patients treated with Secure-C had adjacent disc surgery. After 7 years, patients treated with fusion surgery in the neck for a herniated disc were 4 times more likely to require surgery at any adjacent disc level then patients treated with an artificial disc. These results were significant and highlight the benefits of total disc replacement in helping to prevent accelerated degeneration of adjacent discs and the importance of maintaining normal motion in the neck.