A new meta-analysis published in Spine examines the randomized controlled trials involving cervical disc arthroplasty compared with anterior cervical discectomy and fusion for treating one-level cervical disc degeneration.
The researchers examined 18 randomized controlled trials for the meta-analysis. The research came from the PubMed database searching through October 2014. The researchers found:
1. There were longer operative times, more blood loss, lower neck and arm pain scores reported on the visual analog scale for the cervical disc arthroplasty group when compared with spinal fusion.
2. The cervical disc arthroplasty patients reported better neurological success than the fusion group.
3. There was greater motion at the operated level and fewer secondary surgical procedures for the patients who underwent cervical disc arthroplasty when compared with the fusion patients.
4. There were similar hospital length of stays and Neck Disability Index scores and rates of adverse events were similar between the two groups.
5. The researchers concluded, "Findings of the present meta-analysis indicated that CDA was an effective and safe surgical procedure for the treatment of one-level CCDDD, and CDA was found to be more superior than ACDF in terms of VAS neck and arm pain, neurological success, range of motion and operated level and secondary surgical procedures."