In artificial disk replacement, worn or broken disk material between the tiny bones within the spine (vertebrae) is removed and replaced with an artificial or “artificial” disk.
The goal of the procedure is to relieve back pain while maintaining the more normal motion that is allowed with some other procedures, such as spinal fusion.
Although it is estimated that 70% to 80% of people will experience low back pain at some point in their lives, most will not need surgery to improve their pain.
Surgery is taken into account once low back pain doesn’t improve with conservative treatment.
For patients who have exhausted nonsurgical options and are still in pain, lumbar fusion surgery remains the most common option for treating low back pain. Fusion is essentially a “welding” process. The basic plan is to fuse along the painful vertebrae so they heal into one, solid bone. While several patients are helped by body part fusion, the results of the surgery can vary. In addition, some patients whose fusion surgeries heal perfectly still end up with no improvement of their back pain.
Some doctors believe that the failure to enhance when fusion surgery is thanks to the actual fact that fusion prevents traditional motion thin the spine.
For this reason, artificial disk replacement—which aims to preserve normal motion—has emerged as an alternative treatment option for low back pain.
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