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Motion study shows intrinsic mobility of artificial discs years after implantation
Cervical artificial disc replacement performed with the studied brand of prosthesis showed good cervical mobility when implanted and the prosthesis remained stable, according to results in a recently published study.
Researchers conducted a randomized, controlled trial that compared treatment of cervical radiculopathy with artificial disc replacement (ADR) performed with the Discover prosthesis (DePuy Spine) with anterior cervical decompression and fusion. In the study, 28 patients underwent ADR at levels from C4-7. One level was treated in 18 patients and two levels were treated in 10 patients.
When the researchers calculated disc motion in three planes they detected intrinsic motion in most of the ADR cases. The sagittal rotation ranged from 0.2° to 15.8° and translation ranged from 0.0 mm to 5.5 mm in the sagittal plane.
In all, 8% of the discs were classified as unstable. All the patients with the unstable implants underwent revision surgery for neck pain, according to the findings.
Researchers found the majority of the discs were stable after implantation and showed good mobility, but noted revision surgery remains an option if a patient’s neck pain becomes too great. – by Robert Linnehan
Disclosures: Researchers report they received clinical and research support for the study from DePuy Spine, Stockholm Läns Landsting and the Swedish Society for Spine Surgeons.