Artificial Disc Replacement - Success Rate

The success rate for artificial disc replacement surgery is not as straight forward as listing a series of spine surgery statistics. Success is judged on many subjective and objective measures. The artificial disc operation is usually judged successful if the patient's pain is dramatically reduced, mobility is restored and there is no lingering complication. Please note here that we did not say that the pain was completely eliminated, only that was dramatically reduced. If a patient has experienced back pain for many years from degenerative disc disease, changes due to compression of the ligaments of the spine, the spinal processes and nerves may still cause pain after the artificial disc is inserted. Nerve changes may cause phantom pain, which is pain that is no longer caused by the initial mechanical force on the nerve. So while the doctor from an objective point of view considers the artificial disc operation a success, the patient may not, because pain is still present. This is why we hear success rates varing between 70% and 96%.

These success rates for the artificial disc are significantly higher than fusion operations, which are usually rated between 50 and 55 percent. What is not often included in fusion spine surgery statistics is the 25% of fusion patients that have significant pain from the bone harvesting of the verterbral plug in the hip.

Good preop testing and diagnosis are the most important part in developing a patient's treament plan and enhances the chance for success. Also, a determination to manage postop pain by the patient, if present, is important to the long term success of the artificial disc procedure, as phantom pain can be mitigated or stopped. One should remember that spine surgery statistic only tell part of the story where artificial disc replacement surgery is concerned.