Artificial cervical disc
With the advent of the artificial cervical discs, the practice of spinal fusion after almost every spinal surgery has started to change. The use of the implants is based on the logic of keeping the mobility between the two neighboring vertebrae instead of fully abolishing it. Unfortunately, the invention of artificial cervical discs also meant prolonged surgical time as well as the further training of the surgeons.
These problems started being resolved recently with the development of artificial cervical discs that are placed as quickly and easily as the traditional implants. These developments show that the cervical herniation surgery (see cervical discectomy) no longer requires prolonged surgical and recovery time since the neck is not immobilized with a collar and patients can almost immediately return to work.
The plastic surgery of the wound requires no external sutures and releases the patient immediately from medical monitoring since not even the classic doctor’s appointment for removal of sutures on the eighth postoperative day is required.
Postoperative monitoring is done with simple neck X-rays during the first, the third, the sixth, and the twelfth postoperative month.
