Cervical Disk Arthroplasty Found Most Cost-Effective Tham Anterior Cervical Discectomy

While both cervical disk replacement (CDR) and anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) are cost-effective in the treatment of acute disk herniation, a recent study from 2018 that studied this over a seven-year period demonstrated that CDR was more cost-effective than ACDF. 

• 260 patients with acute disk herniation were treated and follow for seven years after treatment 
• 179 patients underwent disk replacement (CDR) while 81 patients had a fusion (ACDF)
• Disk replacement was found to be more cost-effective than ACDF.  This is likely due to the reduction in adjacent level problems that required treatment at some point during the seven-year study period 
• While additional studies are needed, we at the Northwest Disk Replacement Institute feel that this study underscores the yet another advantage that disk replacement has over traditional fusion surgery.  We believe that patients that are a good candidate for either CDR and ACDF should consult with our experts to determine if CDR is a better long-term solution to their problem.