Open AccessTo review the medical records of patients who underwent surgery for placement of cervical disc prosthesis after two years of postoperative follow-up, showing the basic epidemiological data, the technical aspects and the incidence of complications.
Medical records of seven patients who underwent surgery for placement of cervical disc prosthesis were reviewed after two years of follow-up, at the Institute of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo.
The average age of patients participating in this study was 43.86 years. Six patients (85.7%) had one level approached while one patient (14.3%) had two levels addressed. The level C5-C6 has been approached in one patient (14.3%) while the C6-C7 level was addressed in five patients (71.4%). One patient (14.3%) had these two levels being addressed, C5-C6 and C6-C7. The mean operative time was 164.29±40 minutes. Three patients were hospitalized for 2 days and four for 3 days making an average of 2.57±0.535 days. Two patients (28.6%) underwent a new surgical intervention due to loosening of the prosthesis. The mean follow-up was 28.14±5.178 months (23-35 months).
Although cervical arthroplasty appears to be a safe procedure and present promising results in our study as well as in many other studies, it requires long-term studies.