Can anyone please help, I have been offered a disc replacement surgery at 2 levels on my lower back, has anyone had this done and whats the outcome, I am unsure to go for it or not. All feed back welcome. Thanks.
Last edited by milo123456; 07-18-2012 at 03:44 AM.
I looked into adr (artificial disc replacements) when my back problems became so severe that I knew that I was headed to surgery . Although the portend to claim that they preserve spinal motion, they do in fact, not preserve spinal motion since they do not operate as a normal disc does in the spine, and over the last few years, there are more and more reports about negative outcomes versus fusion. The outcomes in the L5-S1 disc space are not good since there is little movement in that area of the spine anyway, and it appears to cause or worsen facet degeneration in that level. Many adr surgeons will tell you that if it doesn't work then they can just fuse that level, what they do not tell you though is that due to large abdominal arteries and veins in the area they need to get to to place the discs, going back in to either remove the disc ( unlikely) or to fuse through the front is lifethreatening due to the potential for damaging those arteries and veins. In the event that the disc replacement is not successful means that a fusion will probably have to be done, posteriorly and that may not ease the pain .
Having tried to keep up with the newer technologies out there, I personally would not choose to have adr...the technology is not there yet to preserve spinal motion as they claim and there are high risks associated with any surgery to remove the disc and too few surgeons willing to take that risk when things go badly.
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The Following User Says Thank You to backhurtz For This Useful Post: milo123456 (07-17-2012)
Do your research and make sure your surgeon has good credentials. Hopefully ADR will replace fusion as the standard in the USA. I had a 2 level ADR in Germany in 2009 and am very pleased with the result. I now have back issues and if surgery is indicated, ADR is the way I want to go. backhurtz's reply does have some validity, so you should thoroughly discuss the pros and cons with your surgeon. Also, there are web sites dedicated to ADR where like this one, patients blog about their experiences. Good Luck!!
