What Are the Potential Benefits and Risks of Disc Replacement Surgery?
There are potential benefits and risks of disc replacement surgery with the CHARITÉ® Artificial Disc as an alternative to spinal fusion surgery.
Potential Benefits
Most importantly, when fusion surgery is performed, although your pain symptoms may go away, the vertebrae surrounding the disc space are immobilized and therefore typically limit flexibility in that area of the spine. Laboratory testing shows that the CHARITÉ® Artificial Disc design allows your spine to move. In the clinical study, patients were observed to have motion between 0 and 21 degrees while bending forward and backward.
Another benefit to disc replacement surgery with the CHARITÉ® Artificial Disc is that no bone graft is required. Often times with spinal fusion surgery, the bone graft used to pack the disc space is bone that the surgeon has to remove from the patient's hip. This means that the patient ends up having two incisions that must heal, as well as pain in the back and hip during recovery from the surgery.
Potential Risks
As with any surgery, there are some possible complications that can occur when you have disc replacement surgery with the CHARITÉ® Artificial Disc. Complications can occur singly or in combination and may include:
allergic reaction to the implant materials
bladder problems
bleeding, which may require a blood transfusion
death
implants that bend, break, loosen or move
infection
pain or discomfort
paralysis
side effects from anesthesia
slow movement of the intestines
spinal cord or nerve damage
spinal fluid leakage
the need for additional surgery
tears of the dura (a layer of tissue covering the spinal cord)
problems with your blood vessels other than bleeding
