Cervical Total Disc Replacement

For patients whose pain does not improve with non-surgical treatments, surgery may be necessary. Cervical artificial disc replacement is an alternative to fusion that places a device inside the disc space to restore height and remove pressure on the pinched nerves. The artficial disc is designed to allow the neck to maintain normal motion and potentially prevent the adjacent levels from degenerating, possibly preventing future surgeries.

How is Cervical Disc Replacement Different Than Other Surgeries?

Cervical Disc Replacement surgery is an alternative to anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF), which is the surgery that is most commonly done for your condition. In both the ACDF and Cervical Disc Replacement procedures, the unhealthy disc is removed and the height at the level of your spine is restored to relief pressure on the nerves and/ or spinal cord. In an ACDF procedure, the bones are fixed in position with plates and screws and bone graft. In some ACDF procedures, the bone graft may come from your hip in a separate incision. After surgery, the two bones are supposed to grow together, creating one solid piece of bone and eliminating motion at the level of your spine, this is called a fusion. In a Total Disc Replacement procedure, the artificial disc is inserted to restore the height at the level of your spine. A Total Disc Replacement procedure does not require a bone graft and the spine is not fused.

Who should receive Cervical Disc Replacement, and what is it designed to do?

Cervical Disc Replacement is used to replace unhealthy (diseased and/or degenerated) disc of the cervical spine after the unhealthy disc is removed. The typical patient will have neck pain together with nerve pain going down the arms. Cervical Disc Replacement is designed to reduce pain by removing the unhealthy disc while potentially allowing your neck to move after surgery.

What can I expect...

before the surgery?

Your doctor will review your condition with you and explain what all your possible choices are, including medications, physical therapy, and other surgeries such as removal of the diseased disc, fusion, etc.

during the surgery?

During the total disc replacement surgery, you will be under general anesthesia. The surgeon will make a small incision in the front of your neck to get to your unhealthy disc. Then the surgeon will remove the unhealthy disc. The surgeon will insert the ProDisc-C Total Disc Replacement implant into the disc space. Finally, the surgeon will close the incision.

after the surgery?

Cervical Total Disc Replacement is considered major surgery. You should expect discomfort, as well as a period of rehabilitation. Your doctor may prescribe medicines to help you manage any pain or nausea you may experience. On average, you should expect to stay in the hospital for a day or two.

After You Go Home
You and your doctor should talk about a plan to steadily bring you back to normal activity while the healing process occurs. It is very important to follow your doctor’s instructions. You can begin moving soon after surgery, but try not to do too much too soon.

After surgery, your doctor may refer you to a physical therapist who will teach you exercises to improve your strength and mobility while protecting your spine.

Contact your doctor immediately if you:

Have a fever
Notice fluid draining from your wound
Have trouble swallowing or breathing
Have trouble urinating
Have new or increased neck pain, arm pain, numbness, or weakness

MOBI-C

Mobi-C is a bone sparing cervical disc option. With Mobi-C, there are no invasive keels or screws required for implantation. The lack of invasive keels and screws eliminates the need for bone chiseling and preserves the vertebrae for a stable surface ideal for one or two-level implantation.

Rather than screws or keels, the Mobi-C plates have teeth on the top and bottom that help hold the plates to the vertebrae. The teeth are pressed into the bone with no bone cut out, which makes the Mobi-C design and technique bone sparing

PRODISC C vivo

The prodisc C technology is the most studied and clinically proven total disc replacement system in the world. Beginning with clinical usage in 1990, the prodisc design has been validated with over 125,000 device implantations worldwide and more than 540 published papers.

Prodisc C has been shown to facilitate a quicker return to active life. It has also been shown to enable patients to retain their range of motion, enabling the spine to flex over the long-term.