Oh, My Aching Back: Artificial Disc Replacement

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Dennis Douda
Reporting
(WCCO) Edina Minn.

Eight out of 10 people will eventually suffer from back pain, a condition that is the top cause of job-related disability.

Most remedies treat the symptoms but advances in surgery are leading to permanent repairs.

Not long ago Kristel Buck-Ulrick wondered if she would ever be able to enjoy the simple act of just taking a stroll. A damaged disc in her lower back had crippled her with pain.

"I was in bed. I couldn't do anything. I Couldn't lift anything, couldn't do anything around the house. To make a meal was torturous," said Buck-Ulrick.

When the discs separating the vertebrae herniate or degenerate their cushioning benefit is lost and nerves can be pinched. To bring relief from the pain, surgeons like John Sherman often remove the disc and fuse the bones together.

"Put a piece of bone in there so this would grow across as a solid piece of bone, usually with some screws in the back as well," said Sherman, an orthopedic spine surgeon.

New technology is replacing your natural disc with mechanical parts.

"Metal end-plate here and another metal plate on top of this bone, with a plastic piece inside. And then that allows for motion within that disc space. Whereas with a fusion, this would all be locked in place," said Sherman

This back surgery happens through the front of the body to avoid the delicate spinal cord.

"This physically cannot safely pull those nerves all the way to the side to jam this thing in here. So, for a total arthroplasty, the only means to do so is to do it from the front," said Sherman.

There are currently two FDA approved artificial implants on the market, one by Johnson & Johnson's Charite' and another by Synthes Prodisc, which Sherman uses.

Sherman helped to test the Pro-Disc in clinical trials and of his 12 surgical subjects, seven are pain free and satisfied.

Sherman said ideal candidates are the active working population ages 25 to 55 who may have avoided fusion.

Kristel has both models of the artificial disc implanted in her back because she needed relief from two damaged discs.

A similar surgery is now being tested for our necks.

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