Cervical Disc Arthroplasty Compared with Arthrodesis for the Treatment of Myelopathy

K. Daniel Riew, MD

Cervical disc arthroplasty is a motion-preserving alternative to arthrodesis for the treatment of cervical degenerative disease, and several studies have shown equivalent results following the use of cervical disc arthroplasty and arthrodesis for the treatment of cervical radiculopathy. Although there have been case reports describing the use of cervical disc arthroplasty in the setting of myelopathy, there is a concern that motion preservation in the setting of myelopathy may lead to continued microtrauma to the compromised spinal cord, leading to progression of myelopathy and negatively affecting the clinical result. In thier recently published JBJS study, K. Daniel Riew, MD, et.al., found that patients in both the arthroplasty and arthrodesis groups had improvement following surgery; furthermore, improvement was similar between the groups, with no worsening of myelopathy in the arthroplasty group. In this JBJS video supplement Dr. Riew demonstrates his surgical procedure with arthroplasty at C4-5 the treatment of myelopathy.

Material Covered

• Patient Positioning
• Exposure
• Decompression
• Prosthesis Implantation
• Postoperative Protocol

Specifications

• Total Run Time: 34:57 minutes
• Catalog Number: 8024
• VJO Publication Date: September, 2009