prodisc C Total Disc Replacement
The primary goal of the ProDisc C Total Disc Replacement is to restore normal spinal movement and significantly reduce pain. This is achieved through the device’s mechanism of action, which re-establishes disc height. By restoring disc height, the device helps relieve nerve compression and returns the vertebral joints to their natural alignment, resulting in pain relief.
Before the advent of artificial discs, the only surgical option was spinal fusion, where adjacent vertebrae were permanently fused using implants, bone grafts, or cages. Unlike fusion, the ProDisc C aims to preserve motion at the affected disc while reducing the added stress on neighboring discs.
The Most Studied TDR System in the World
Beginning with clinical usage in 1990, the prodisc design has been validated with over 125,000 device implantations worldwide and more than 540 published papers.
The prodisc C Total Disc Replacement surgery is intended to:
- Remove the diseased disc
- Restore normal disc height
- Decompress surrounding neural structures
- Potentially provide motion in affected vertebral segment
- Improve patient function
prodisc C Goals
Maintaining Spinal Balance & Motion
Degenerative disc disease can lead to segmental instability over time. Furthermore, a discectomy procedure itself causes instability, as it involves removing the Anterior Longitudinal Ligament, the disc, and often the Posterior Longitudinal Ligament. With these stabilizing structures gone, it is crucial for a disc replacement to incorporate constraints to safeguard the facet joints.
Controlled and Predictable Motion
prodisc C allows for a normal range of motion while ensuring segmental stability through controlled translation. The highly conforming surfaces of the superior endplate and the UHMWPE inlay work together to prevent the endplates from translating independently. This controlled translation occurs as the superior endplate rotates around the ball on the inferior endplate, maintaining proper movement and alignment.
Accelerate the Resumption of Activities of Daily Living
The discectomy procedure can be invasive and may require a recovery period. However, prodisc C has been carefully designed to reduce the recovery time associated with the surgery. A review of nearly 7,000 patients from the Blue Health Intelligence Claims Database revealed that those who received a prodisc C had significantly shorter hospital stays compared to those who underwent ACDF.
Decelerate Adjacent Level Reoperations
Historically, the treatment for degenerative disc disease has been to perform an ACDF, which fuses the affected joint. However, immobilizing a spinal segment has been linked to an increased rate of adjacent-level degeneration. By preserving motion, the ProDisc is designed to slow down this degeneration. A study based on the U.S. IDE PMA clinical trial for ProDisc showed that, after seven years of follow-up, patients who received ProDisc had four times fewer reoperations on adjacent segments compared to those who underwent ACDF.
Range of Motion
- The prodisc C is designed to allow for a normal range of motion in flexion /extension, lateral bending, and axial rotation.1
- Long-term prospective randomized multi-center evidence illustrates that patients retained range of motion of 8.12° for 7 years.1
- Fusion patients from the study had a range of motion of 0.66°.1
1 Janssen ME, et al, ProDisc-C Total Disc Replacement Versus ACDF for Single-Level Symptomatic Cervical Disc Disease, JBJS, 2015, 97:1738-47.
Schedule a Consultation
If you think prodisc C may be right for you, contact DFW Center for Spinal Disorders for a consultation in Fort Worth. Give us a call at (817) 916-4685 to get started, or request an appointment through our secure online form.