A new study published in Spine examines the long-term effects of repeat cervical fusion for patients who develop adjacent segment disease.
The study examined 888 patients who underwent anterior cervical discectomy and fusion for degenerative disc disease, with 108 who developed adjacent segment disease that required a second cervical fusion. The researchers found that 27 of those patients developed recurrent ASD that required a third fusion.
ASD occurred 47±44.9 months after the first fusion procedure. Among the patients who received a second fusion with the anterior approach, 23 developed recurrent ASD while only four of 31 patients who underwent the second fusion posteriorly developed recurrent ASD.
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