Prevention of vertebral body-splitting fractures after multilevel ProDisc-L implantation.

Background: Prior studies of multilevel ProDisc-L (PD-L) implants (Synthes Spine, Inc., West Chester, Pennsylvania) using the standard US technique have used conventional radiography postoperatively. We found vertebral body-splitting fractures (VB-SFs) in interposed vertebral bodies after 5 sequential multilevel PD-L device implantations using the standard US technique.

Physical capability outcomes after total disc replacement with ProDisc-L.

Background: Lumbar disc arthroplasty (total disc replacement [TDR]) outcomes have been evaluated using subjective, patient-reported measures of pain, health, and functional impairment. As a condition of TDR coverage, our institution's health plan required that objective physical performance data be collected. Thus our study was designed to explore (1) the feasibility of using preoperative and 1-year postoperative performance on functional capacity tasks as an outcome metric for TDR with ProDisc-L (PD-L) (Synthes Spine, West Chester, Pennsylvania), (2) the magnitude and significance of changes in preoperative and postoperative performance, and (3) whether changes noted in performance are reflected in the subjective measures.