The spine journal : official journal of the North American Spine Society
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Prospective randomized study of the Charite artificial disc: data from two investigational centers.
For decades there has been a desire to restore motion of a painful degenerated spinal segment. Artificial discs have been used in Europe for almost 20 years. In the few reports available in the literature, the results have been promising. However, there have been no prospective randomized studies comparing artificial discs with spinal fusion. ⋯ In this prospective randomized study, both surgical groups improved significantly. Complications of total disc replacement were similar to those encountered with anterior lumbar interbody fusion. Total disc replacement appears to be a viable alternative to fusion for the treatment of single-level symptomatic disc degeneration unresponsive to nonoperative management.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Lumbar spine arthroplasty using the ProDisc II.
The ProDisc was developed by Thierry Marnay, a French orthopedic surgeon, in the late 1980s. Marnay and his associate implanted ProDiscs into 64 patients from 1990 to 1993. Demonstrating remarkable intellectual restraint, he let this cohort of patients "incubate" so he could see their progress before performing any additional implantations. ⋯ Flexion and lateral bend range of motion was significantly improved in ProDisc patients compared with the fusion group (p= .02). Ambulatory status as well as recreational activity improved faster in the ProDisc group. The data suggest that total disc arthroplasty may be an attractive option to lumbar fusion for the surgical treatment of disabling mechanical low back pain secondary to lumbar disc disease.