Cervical degenerative disc disease may be alleviated by decompressive surgery with discectomy and fusion, with or without plating. Drawbacks to fusion include decreased range of motion of the cervical spine, adjacent disc degeneration due to uneven loading and possible subsequent surgery of the adjacent levels. Motion preservation surgery with artificial disc after descectomy decreases the risk of adjacent level disease and offers the advantage of no morbidities from donor site (iliac bone graft) and non-need for post-operative immobilization with cervical collar.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to describe the results of motion preservation surgery with artificial disc as compared to fusion surgery in the treatment of cervical degenerative disc disease.

METHODS: This study is a review of patients with cervical degenerative disc disease who underwent decompressive surgery. Comparison was made among those who underwent motion preservation surgery with Prestige LP (Group A) and those who underwent fusion surgery with plating (Group B) and without plating (Group C).

RESULTS: Majority of the patients underwent one to two level surgeries: 100% in Group A, 95.8% in Group B and 86.7% in Group C. Operative time and blood loss were similar among the three groups. Improvement after surgeries, based on the Nurick scale, were also comparable. Improvement of neurological status was noted in 85.7% (Group A), 100% (Group B) and 73.3% (Group C).