Back pain is a leading cause for doctor visits, with approximately 80% of the United States population experiencing episodes of acute low back pain requiring medical attention at least once in their lives. While the majority of these patients improve with traditional care, a significant number become chronically debilitated and require surgical intervention. Historically, these patients have often been treated by spinal fusion which was intended to relieve pain by eliminating motion at the diseased vertebral segment, but it can create spinal imbalance, alter the biomechanics of the spine, and increase stresses and motion in adjacent vertebral segments that may accelerate further degeneration.
A new technology platform that offers a surgical alternative to spinal fusion by allowing the potential for motion at the diseased spinal segment is ProDisc a Total Disc Replacement (TDR).
New York Brain and Spine Surgeon, Ezriel Kornel MD says, “that preserving motion within a diseased vertebral segment can enable the spine to restore its balance and uphold more natural mechanics, which could reduce degeneration in adjacent vertebral segments in the spine.”
The ProDisc-L Total Disc Replacement provides surgeons a proven alternative to fusion surgery. Made by SYNTHES, The ProDisc-L Total Disc Replacement utilizes a ball and socket design similar to joint replacement devices that have been used for many decades. It enables patients to have a normal spinal range of motion by responding to the patients’ movements. The concave surface of the top endplate rotates around the ball in the bottom endplate, allowing spinal motion.
Since the ProDisc is implanted via an approach through the abdomen, the muscles, tendons and ligaments of the spine are not disrupted as happens when the spine is fused through the back. With overall spine movement being maintained there is less likelihood of disruption of other discs and more likelihood of living a life free of debilitating pain.
