The current status of lumbar total disc replacement. Review uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • Total disc replacement is an exciting technology that may one day replace fusion as the gold standard treatment for DDD, but it is currently an experimental procedure in the United States. Promising short- and mid-term results have been reported for TDR, but longer follow-up and randomized trials comparing TDR to fusion and nonsurgical treatment are needed to fully define the role of TDR in the spine surgeon's armamentarium. Short-term complication rates have been acceptably low, but in the long term the durability of TDR implants and the vertebral endplate will provide challenges. Finally, it is essential that practitioners understand that a limited subset of patients are good candidates for TDR and that indiscriminate application of this technology will result in poor outcomes.

publication date

  • January 1, 2004

Research

keywords

  • Intervertebral Disc
  • Lumbar Vertebrae
  • Prostheses and Implants
  • Prosthesis Implantation

Identity

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 0742320203

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1016/S0030-5898(03)00103-2

PubMed ID

  • 15062716

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 35

issue

  • 1