Abstract

The authors retrospectively compared the intermediateterm clinical outcome of cervical disc arthroplasty and traditional anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF). Seventy-six cases of singlelevel CSM with a minimum follow-up of two years were retrospectively analyzed. Thirty-seven patients underwent single-level cervical disc arthroplasty (Bryan disc : 12 cases ; Prestige LP disc : 25 cases), while the other 39 patients underwent single-level ACDF. Significant improvement in SF-36 physical/mental component scores and NDI score was found in both groups (p < 0.05) ; however, the arthroplasty group had significantly greater score improvement at each follow-up time point (p < 0.05). The JOA score and Nurick grade improved significantly at each time point in both groups (p < 0.05), but there were no significant differences between the groups (p > 0.05). The range of motion (surgical level and C2C7) remained unchanged in the arthroplasty group (p > 0.05), whereas it decreased significantly in the ACDF group (p < 0.05). The arthroplasty group had a lower incidence of complications than the ACDF group. The intermediate outcomes of cervical disc arthroplasty compared favourably to those of ACDF. Arthroplasty avoids complications from spinal fusion by preserving mobility.