Artificial Disc a Viable Alternative to Fusion for 2-Level Disc Disease, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Study

When two adjacent discs in the low back wear out, become compressed and cause unmanageable pain, numbness or other symptoms, replacement with artificial discs can be a viable alternative to standard fusion surgery, based on two-year post-surgery data from a randomized, multicenter trial recently published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. Previous studies have compared single-disc replacement with fusion but this is believed the first to evaluate the two forms of treatment for two contiguous discs, said Rick B. Delamarter, MD, vice chair for Spine Services in the Department of Surgery and co-medical director of the Spine Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He is the article's first author.