The study authors gathered data from several US FDA IDE trails on outcomes for cervical disc arthroplasty and spinal fusion. The study included 47 patients from a single center. The study authors found:
1. Both procedures had high success rates 10 years after surgery.
2. The spinal fusion and disc arthroplasty patients reported statistically significant improvements in several measurements, including:
• Neck Disability Index
• Visual analog scale neck score
• VAS arm score
3. The patients in the arthroplasty group reported an advantage by the final 10-year NDI score over the spinal fusion patients, scoring an 8 compared to 16.
4. Thirty-two percent of the patients in the spinal fusion group underwent reoperations within 10 years after the primary procedure, compared with 9 percent of the disc arthroplasty patients.
5. The study authors concluded, “At seven and 10 years, cervical arthroplasty compares favorably with ACDF as defined by standard outcomes scores in a highly selected population with radiculopathy.”
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