UW SURGEONS IMPLANT FIRST PATIENT WITH ARTIFICIAL CERVICAL DISC
Surgery believed to be first in the state

MADISON--Surgeons from the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics Spine Center performed a revolutionary procedure yesterday when an artificial cervical disc was implanted into a 22-year-old man’s spine to alleviate a herniated disc. The patient, who is part of a randomized clinical trial taking place at UW, leaves the hospital today. UW orthopedic surgeon Thomas Zdeblick, MD, chairman of the of the Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation Medicine and head of the clinical trial, along with neurosurgeon Gregory Trost, MD, used the PRESTIGE Artificial Cervical Disc System designed to closely match the function of a normal spinal disc space and provide patients with more neck movement following surgery. The prosthesis consists of two metallic components and is affixed to the vertebral bodies with screws. The two components are designed to act as a pivot point, which allows the spinal segment to undergo a range of motion.

“This device may become standard practice in the future if the patient benefits far exceed the current anterior cervical fusion procedure,” states Zdeblick.

Discs are gel-like cushions that act as shock absorbers between the vertebrae in the spine. Herniation, resulting from disc degeneration, injury or heavy lifting, can occur when a part of the disc is pushed out of place and presses on adjacent nerve endings connected to the arm. Cervical
disc disease affects about half of people over 40. About 95 percent of patients get better after several months of non-surgical treatment, such as medication, physiotherapy and massage therapy.

About 200,000 cervical procedures are performed nationally each year to remove an impingement on the spinal cord or nerve root, followed by an implanted metal plate plus bone graft to rigidly fuse, or “weld,” the vertebrae together. Fusion helps relieve the pain caused by a ruptured disc, but patients lose some range of motion in their neck, and the removal of a single disc puts extra stress on the adjacent discs. The recovery time is lengthy, with patients often out of work six to 12 weeks or longer. In contrast, the artificial disc mimics the movement of a real disc, taking the pressure off pinched nerves and preserving a person’s range of motion.

U.S. clinical evaluations of the PRESTIGE Artificial Cervical Disc began early this year under an Investigational Device Exemption granted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Half of the participants in the study receive the standard spinal fusion surgery and the other half receive the artificial disc. The PRESTIGE™ disc has been evaluated in controlled clinical investigations in Europe since 1996.

The UW Spine Center is also participating in a similar clinical trial using the Bryan disc—titanium discs fixed to an inner core made of shock-absorbing rubber intended to cushion the vertebrae. Dr. Zdeblick, known for his pioneering advances in spinal surgery, also participated in a seven-year study of a titanium cage device used in cervical spine fusion surgery. The device, which eliminates the need to take bone from a patient’s hip, was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration last year.

	Dr. Thomas Zdeblick	Dr. Gregory Trost

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First published: 07/15/02 Last updated: 11/24/09 webmaster@ortho.wisc.edu
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