A recent study of five year data for patients who underwent cervical total disc replacement or anterior cervical discectomy and fusion show a five-fold difference in reoperation rates, according to a study published in Spine. Rick B. Delamarter, MD, of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, and Jack Zigler, MD, of Texas Back Institute in Plano, were listed as study authors. The study included 209 patients who received either total cervical disc replacement with the ProDisc-C or ACDF at 13 different treatment sites, and researchers considered a surgical intervention at any level after the initial procedure a reoperation.
Here are five things to know about the results:
• After five years, patients who underwent TDR had a 97.1 percent probability of no secondary procedures, compared with 85.5 percent for ACDF patients.
• No reoperations in TDR patients were due to implant breakage or device failure.
• Pseudarthrosis was the most common reason for reoperation at the index level among ACDF patients.
• Recurrent neck pain and/or arm pain was the most common reason for reoperation at the adjacent level for both groups.
• Only 2.9 percent of TDR patients had reoperations within five years of the initial surgery, compared with 14.5 percent of the ACDF patients.
More Articles on Spine Surgery:
6 Ways to Increase Spine Practice Profits
5 Quick Ways to Grow Spine Surgeon Practices
6 Trends for Successful Spine Practice Models of the Future