Innovation in non-fusion spine technology

Artificial Disc Replacement Surgery: Innovation in
Non-fusion Spine Technology

Artificial disc replacement surgery technology, or non-fusion spine surgery, for the lumbar and cervical spine is a specialty of The Spine Institute. When you are considering artificial disc replacement surgery over spinal fusion, it is important to understand that experience performing artificial disc replacement surgery is critical. Dr. Kenneth Pettine and Dr. E. Jeffrey Donner at The Spine Institute are among the most experienced spine surgeons in the country, having performed numerous artificial disc replacement surgeries and pioneered a variety of research studies.

The principle behind using artificial disc replacement surgery for spinal treatment is to enable a surgeon to treat a patient’s cervical or lumbar spinal condition that usually arises as a result of aging or degenerating discs without using fusion, which alters a spine’s normal movement.

Artificial disc replacement aims to replace a bad disc that is causing pain with a mobile artificial disc, rather than removing the disc and fusing the vertebrae together. The artificial disc allows the spine to maintain its natural mobility and theoretically prevents abnormal motion or stress on adjacent spinal segments, which results in the degeneration that is believed to be the cause of long-term spinal fusion failure.

Although the materials and designs of artificial disc replacements for the cervical spine and lumbar spine are similar, the indications for using each are very different. Artificial disc replacement in the cervical spine is used most often as an alternative to the spinal fusion that accompanies almost all anterior cervical decompressive procedures that treat radiculopathy, a compression of the nerves at the spine that result in pain, weakness, numbness, or difficulty controlling specific muscles, or myelopathy, a condition of the spinal cord. Learn about our cervical disc replacement clinical studies.

On the other hand, most decompressive procedures for the lumbar spine that treat radiculopathy are performed using a posterior approach (from the rear), which doesn’t provide the access to the spine to enable a successful artificial disc replacement surgery. Instead, artificial disc replacement for the lumbar spine is used to treat the axial back pain caused by lumbar disc degeneration (which is treated using an anterior approach), and other non-fusion spine technologies such as the coflex® implant are under development to accompany posterior lumbar decompressive procedures. Learn about our lumbar disc replacement clinical studies.

More detail on artificial disc replacement surgery and non-fusion technologies.

What to expect from your Lumbar Artificial Disc Replacement Surgery.

What to expect from your Cervical Artificial Disc Replacement Surgery.