STUDY DESIGN: A review of the published literature regarding lumbar arthroplasty. OBJECTIVE: To describe the current state of lumbar total disc replacement and, in particular, the recent clinical results of the Charite and ProDisc trials. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Lumbar fusion remains the surgical procedure of choice for patients with chronic low back pain unresponsive to nonsurgical management. Lumbar fusion is a strictly palliative procedure with suboptimal clinical results obtained by a significant proportion of patients. Adjacent segment disease is thought to limit the long-term clinical results with up to 20% of patients requiring secondary surgical interventions within the decade following a ‘successful’ lumbar fusion. Total disc replacement has been developed as a potential means to improve the long-term outcome of these patients. METHODS: Literature review of total lumbar disc replacement. RESULTS: The surgical decision-making process, a description of current lumbar disc arthroplasty devices, and early clinical results are described. CONCLUSION: In appropriately chosen patients, lumbar disc arthroplasty provided clinical results similar to those obtained with interbody fusion at 2 years. The long-term results with respect to the effect of these devices on adjacent segment degeneration are not known, as the incidence of adjacent segment degeneration is not an endpoint of the current trials
Keywords : Arthroplasty,Back Pain,Decision Making,Humans,Incidence,Intervertebral Disc,Intervertebral Disc Displacement,Low Back Pain,Lumbar Vertebrae,methods,Motion,Movement,Pain,surgery,, Arthroplasty,Management, glucosamine for back pain
Date of Publication : 2005 Aug 15
Authors : German JW;Foley KT;
Organisation : Department of Neurosurgery, University of Tennessee & Semmes-Murphey Clinic, Memphis, TN 38104, USA
Journal of Publication : Spine (Phila Pa 1976 )
Pubmed Link : https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16103835
The London Spine Unit : Harley Street UK. Specialists in Cutting Edge Technologies for Spinal Surgery