A study has revealed that artificial disc replacement does not yield better results than fusion surgery in patients undergoing treatment for cervical radiculopathy, or pinched nerve in the neck.
The randomized, multi-center study, which was partially funded by Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), compared the outcomes of 137 patients who were treated with either the company’s DePuy Discover artificial disc or a procedure known as anterior cervical decompression and fusion (ACDF). Patients were tracked for 2 years after surgery.
The results showed no significant difference between the 2 groups in terms of neck disability or complications. The findings were published in the online edition of The Spine Journal.
Both groups reported much lower neck disability scores, moving from 63.1 to 39.8 in an intention-to-treat analysis. But there was no statistically significant difference between the groups, with NDI values of 39.1 for the DePuy Discover cohort and 40.1 for the control group.
The therapies were also equal in terms of the study’s secondary outcomes, according to the study.
"Artificial disc replacement did not result in better outcome compared to fusion measured with neck disability index 2 years after surgery," the study’s authors concluded.
Johnson & Johnson provided unrestricted institutional research grants for the trial.