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Cervical disc replacement is a surgical procedure that involves removing a damaged or degenerated cervical disc and replacing it with an artificial disc device. There are a number of factors that are important in considering cervical disc replacement vs. a traditional decompression and fusion surgery. The initial conservative treatment before undergoing a cervical disc disease typically involves physical therapy, medications, and occasionally spinal injection procedures. If the symptoms persist for more than 6-12 weeks, surgical treatment can be considered. However, the most common and traditional operation for symptomatic cervical disc disease involves an anterior cervical discectomy and fusion surgery. Who is a candidate for cervical disc replacement surgery? Cervical disc replacement is used to treat symptomatic cervical disc disease that has failed to improve with alternative care. In most cases, disc replacement can be used instead of an anterior cervical discectomy and fusion, but there are situations where arthroplasty is not an option. The procedure Cervical disc replacement is performed with the patient under general anesthesia. Patients are positioned face up in the operating room and a one to two inch (3-5cm) horizontal incision is made . The damaged disc is then exposed and removed. At Same Day Spine, the surgeon performs this minimally disruptive procedure to relieve the painful symptoms from a pinched nerve in the neck. The procedure is performed through a less than 1 inch incision. With the aid of a high powered medical microscope, the damaged spinal disc is replaced with a new artificial disc using the latest FDA approved disc replacement technologies. After preparing the disc space, the disc replacement device is sized and carefully placed into position between the vertebrae. The artificial disc is designed to glide and rotate just like a normal healthy disc. The procedure is typically completed within 60 minutes and because no muscles and very little bone are cut during the procedure, scarring is minimized and the patient is able to leave the hospital the same day. After-effects: You may experience immobilization in a cervical collar for up to a week . The pain from the procedure usually improves within two to three days. Nerve symptoms such as pain, numbness, and weakness that are typically associated with the cervical disc disease are often dramatically improved within hours of the surgery, but in some cases, it can take weeks or even months to recover. Potential Benefits of a Cervical Artificial Disc vs. a Fusion Unlike a fusion procedure, the artificial disc surgery does not have the potential complications associated with taking a bone graft from the hip nor the theoretical risk of infection transmission from using a cadaveric bone graft. The length and type of activity restrictions following surgery are also comparitively less with disc replacement. Jasmine Bilimoria is a research writer and a contributor with Same Day Spine. Same Day Spine Institute specializes in minimally invasive treatments of the spine, using latest cutting edge technologies, such as stem cells, laser discectomies, artificial discs, spinal cord stimulators, minimally invasive fusions, etc for spinal treatments.
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