Total Disc Replacement
What is Total Disc Replacement?
Total disc replacement is a surgery performed to remove a damaged vertebral disc and replace it with a synthetic one. The synthetic disc has a full range of motion allowing the spine to remain mobile while reducing stress on the adjacent vertebrae. Total disc replacement is an alternative to a spinal fusion.
What are the Advantages to Total Disc Replacement
- no fusion needed
- range of motion in the spine is maintained
- less risk of degeneration in adjacent vertebrae (spinal fusion fuses the area putting added pressure on the vertebra above and below the fusion)
Who is a candidate for disc replacement surgery?
- degenerative disc disease
- post laminectomy syndrome
- one level disc replacement
- Cervical spine malady
- between age 18 - 60
- conservative treatments have failed to provide results
If you suffer from any of the following conditions you are not a candidate for disc replacement therapy:
- infection
- spinal stenosis
- spondylolisthesis
- fracture or tumor causing spinal instability
- scoliosis
- facet joint disease
- significant radiculopathy (pain radiating down the legs)
- osteoporosis or poor bone quality
Other criteria that may exclude you as a candidate:
- pregnancy
- not in physically good enough medical condition
- allergies to material in the implant
The main drawback of the total disc replacement procedure is that we only perform it in the cervical section of spine. In fact lumbar disc replacement is not a good form of surgery and is rarely performed in the US or other parts of the world. If you are not a candidate for total disc replacement, minimally invasive spine surgery may be right for you.
Before surgical spine treatment is considered, we will exhaust conservative, non-surgical spine treatment options first. Our advanced diagnostic and pain mapping techniques enable us to ensure precise diagnosis, which is one of the most important factors towards effective treatment of your pain.
