A new study published in Spine examines the seven and 10-year outcomes for cervical arthroplasty compared with anterior cervical discectomy and fusion.
The study authors gathered data from several US FDA IDE trails on outcomes for cervical disc arthroplasty and spinal fusion. The study included 47 patients from a single center. The study authors found:
1. Both procedures had high success rates 10 years after surgery.
2. The spinal fusion and disc arthroplasty patients reported statistically significant improvements in several measurements, including:
• Neck Disability Index
• Visual analog scale neck score
• VAS arm score
3. The patients in the arthroplasty group reported an advantage by the final 10-year NDI score over the spinal fusion patients, scoring an 8 compared to 16.
4. Thirty-two percent of the patients in the spinal fusion group underwent reoperations within 10 years after the primary procedure, compared with 9 percent of the disc arthroplasty patients.
5. The study authors concluded, "At seven and 10 years, cervical arthroplasty compares favorably with ACDF as defined by standard outcomes scores in a highly selected population with radiculopathy."