Progress in artificial cervical disc replacement / 中华创伤骨科杂志

ABSTRACT

Although anterior cervical fusion has been a conventional surgical treatment for cervical spondylosis, concerns for the possible accelerated degeneration of adjacent segments after fusion have been growing. Fusion can also lead to other drawbacks, such as alteration of spinal biomechanics, graft and hardware complications, and chronic pain at the harvest site. In addition, it must be realized that decompression, not fusion, is the primary goal of anterior cervical surgery. Since the artificial cervical disc replacement can preserve enough motion after neural decompression with adequate stability, it provides a new surgical therapy for cervical spondylosis. This paper summarizes the progress in the related research field and makes comments on the current developments and future prospects of cervical arthroplasty.