Artificial Disc Replacement
Results & Success Rates

As with other types of surgery, results can vary widely depending on the skill and experience of the surgeon. As one might expect experience, training and raw talent are key factors in success.

When a patient is making decisions about what surgeon to select for ADR surgery based on artificial disc replacement results, the patient should consider many important factors.

First and foremost, the patient should obtain patient satisfaction rates, which are more important measures than simple success rates. For example, success in fusion surgery is considered positive only if the segment fuses, whereas in ADR surgery six factors must be considered for it to be scored successful.. Normally reliable numbers are only available for surgeons actively engaged in research. The surgeons success rates are audited by agencies and the manufacturers.

Second, patients should seek results (success rates) for the number of levels the surgeon has done, which are equal to the number of levels the patient needs. It would be unwise to select a surgeon for a four-level procedure, who has only done one and two level surgeries.

Third, the patient should not group all ADR surgeries into one category, because there is a vast difference in the surgical talent needed to operate on L12 and L23, than on L45 and L5S1. Furthermore the endurance of one ADR model is not the same as others.

Fourth, find a surgeon who has done long-term studies, as they are more likely to know how to acquire and report artificial disc replacement results using a scientific methodology. Indeed, what a patient judges to be a good or bad surgery by the patient can change to the opposite result over time.

Fifth, anyone who guarantees success is less than honest. No medical procedure is 100% successful. That is simply not medicine nor biology.

Again, finding statistics which most closely matches your case is the best way to interpret Artificial Disc Replacement Results. Our research indicates that Prof. Dr. Bertagnoli has substantially higher patient satisfaction rates in this technically demanding surgery over worldwide statistics and other surgeons. Current statistical results are available upon request.

Lumbar total disc arthroplasty: outdated surgery or here to stay procedure? A systematic review of current literature. Formica, et al., 2017