About Prodisc L
Prodisc L Total Disc Replacement
Lumbar disc replacement is a motion-preserving surgical option designed to treat appropriately selected patients with lumbar degenerative disc disease and chronic low back pain.
During surgery, the damaged disc is removed and replaced with an artificial disc implant designed to restore disc height, decompress affected neural structures, and help preserve motion in the lower spine.
Unlike spinal fusion, lumbar disc replacement is designed to help maintain movement and function in the lower back while relieving pressure on surrounding nerves.
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More than 35 years of clinical history and has been widely used throughout the world since the first implantation in 1990.
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Supported by over 590 published peer-reviewed papers evaluating cervical and lumbar total disc replacement.
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More than 300,000 prodisc implantations have been performed worldwide, making it one of the most extensively studied motion-preserving technologies in spine surgery.
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Demonstrated long-term clinical durability with a reported revision rate of less than 1%.
Maintaining Spinal Balance & Motion
Degenerative disc disease can be a segmental destabilizing process. In addition, conducting the surgical procedure to perform a discectomy is inherently destabilizing, since it involves the removal of the ALL, the disc, and often the PLL. In the absence of these restricting structures, it is important that a disc replacement have constraints, in order to protect the facet joints.
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In order to provide constraint, the prodisc mechanism of action enables movement with a fixed center of motion, enabling A/P translation only with flexion / extension.
Decelerate Adjacent Level Reoperations
The ‘gold standard’ for treating degenerative disc disease is to conduct a fusion and fuse the joint. However, immobilizing a segment of the spine has been shown to increase the rate of adjacent level degeneration. By enabling motion, prodisc is intended to decelerate adjacent level degeneration.
A paper published on the results with the US IDE PMA clinical study showed that, at five years follow-up, patients had 3.5 times more development of adjacent level disease with fusion than with prodisc L.
Accelerate the Resumption of Activities of Daily Living
The operative procedure to conduct a discectomy can be invasive and require recuperation. Special care has been taken to design the technique and instrumentation to minimize the recuperation and recovery associated with the procedure. In a study comparing prodisc L and circumferential fusion, surgeons found that patients that received the fusion treatment option lost nearly twice as much blood during the procedure (794mL vs 410mL), spent nearly twice as much time in the OR (344 minutes vs 185 minutes), and spent longer in the hospital (mean stay of 4.78 vs 4.32 days)[1].
[1] Levin DA, et al., Comparative Charge Analysis of One- and Two-Level Lumbar Total Disc Arthroplasty Versus Circumferential Lumbar Fusion, Spine, Vol. 32, Number 25, pp2905-2909.
Start Your Journey to a Pain-Free Life
If you’re tired of living with chronic pain from a damaged disc, we’re here to help you explore your options. Disc replacement surgery at Spine Specialists of Louisiana offers a chance to reclaim your mobility and enjoy a fuller, pain-free life. To learn more or to see if you’re a candidate, schedule a consultation with our team today. We’re here to answer all your questions and help you make an informed decision about your health.​