A new article published in Spine examines evidence from a prior randomized controlled trial to compare cervical disc replacement to spinal fusion for quality of life.
The data was derived from LDR's randomized controlled trial comparing disc replacement with the Mobi-C to anterior cervical discectomy and fusion for two-level cervical disc disease. The researchers found:
1. There was a strong correlation between the neck disability index and visual analogue scale.
2. The patients with a poorer health state were associated with lower average utility value. The researchers constructed five "distinct health states" with projected neck disability index intervals onto visual analogue scale.
3. The patients with a higher health state were associated with higher average utility value.
4. There wasn't a significant difference between preoperative utility when the researchers compared ACDF and cervical disc replacement at two levels.
5. The researchers did find a significant difference in the postoperative utility between the two groups at every point from six months to 60 months.
"There is substantial potential for these to become baseline future indices for cost-utility analyses in similar populations," concluded the study authors.