Technique Pearls for Successful Cervical Disc Arthroplasty From More Than 20 Years of Surgical Experience.

Study Design: Surgical technique paper.
Objective: To describe tips and pearls for cervical disc arthroplasty (CDA).
Background: CDA has proven to be an effective means of treatment for degenerative cervical disc disease and cervical radiculopathy in properly selected patients who have previously failed non-operative treatment.
Methods: Surgical tips and pearls garnered from more than 20 years of experience with CDA surgery are described.
Results: This discussion focuses on pearls for successful procedures, including patient selection, patient positioning, surgical technique, and postoperative protocols.
Conclusions: In correctly selected patients, CDA can be effective in treating cervical degenerative disc disease and radiculopathy. The techniques described here can increase the chance of success and decrease complications.
Competing Interests: J.Y: Medtronic – education grant. B.B.: Medtronic – consulting payments and research funding. R.S.: Research support-Medtronic, Stryker, AO, Cerapedics, Smith & Nephew, Lilly, Simplify Medical, OrthoFix, Empirical Spine, Royalties-Medtronic, Nuvasive, Saunders Elsevier. The remaining authors declare no conflict of interest.
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