Cervical Disk Arthroplasty.

Abstract

Anterior cervical diskectomy and fusion has been and remains the benchmark surgical management of cervical degenerative disk disease. However, an increased use of cervical disk arthroplasty (CDA) has been found in the past few years. The purported benefits of CDA included preserved motion, less adjacent-level degeneration, and less morbidity. Short-term results from randomized control trials clearly showed noninferiority of CDA compared with fusion. With long-term comparison data becoming available, results are equivalent and superior in many metrics compared, favoring CDA. Concerns remain regarding the best way to manage CDA failures. Nonetheless, appropriate patient selection and adherence to strict surgical technique make CDA a viable treatment.