Radiological exploration on adjacent segments after total cervical disc replacement with Prodisc-C prosthesis

Total cervical disc replacement (TDR) as an alternative to anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) in the treatment of cervical disc degenerative disease (CDDD) has been widely accepted [1‐3]. Numerous biomechanical experiments suggested TDR can theoretically preserve the activity of the surgical segment and reduce the stress of adjacent segments, which may reduce the occurrence of adjacent segment degeneration (ASD) [4, 5]. Although no consensus on the definition of ASD, there have been many publications supported the reduction of ASD after TDR compared with ACDF. Hilibrand et al. [6] believed that the range of motion (ROM), lordosis (LOR), and intervertebral disc height (IDH) of adjacent segments can affect ASD, while there were more focus on operated segments in previous studies rather than a systematic report on radiological parameters of upper and lower adjacent segments (UAS/LAS) after TDR.

Studies have shown a potential impact on UAS and LAS by radiological parameters of the global cervical spine, especially by the operated segments [7, 8]. Thus, the reconstruction of the cervical spine alignment through TDR surgery may improve parameters of UAS and LAS and then may reduce the incidence of ASD, but the relationship between UAS or LAS and the cervical spine parameters was not clear yet. The artificial disc of Prodisc-C (Synthes, Paoli, PA, USA), as one of the motion-preserving technique, is a constrained ball-in-trough articulation, where the vertical keels on upper and lower end plates, inserted into adjacent vertebrae, enable alignment correction and immediate fixation [2, 9]. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyze ROM, LOR, and IDH of UAS/LAS before and after TDR with Prodisc-C prosthesis and to explore the influencing factors of cervical spine radiological parameters on UAS and LAS.

Studies have shown that the incidence of ASD at 10-year follow up after ACDF, the classic procedure for the treatment of CDDD, is as high as 25–90% [10]. ASD was considered to be linked with the loss of motion, the change of movement of adjacent segments, and intervertebral disc stress [13]. The load of adjacent segments will change due to the prosthesis implantation and facet fusion while non-fusion technique with dynamic stabilization brought could restore spine stability and reduce the stress shelter effect [14]. Barrey et al. [15] reported that TDR put no significant effect on the motion of the cervical spine and the pressure of adjacent segments. Chang et al. [7, 16] compared cervical spine ROM after ACDF and TDR by computer-assisted vertebral motion analysis and found TDR can preserve more ROM of index segments ROM and can reduce UAS-ROM and LAS-ROM, verifying the hypothesis that TDR may reduce the occurrence of ASD by preventing excessive ROM of adjacent segments. This study firstly confirmed that TDR had little effect on adjacent segments. In addition, it remained that spinal surgeons should know what they need to do and which parameters they should focus on for the safety of adjacent segments.

Park et al. [17] completed a 5-yearfollow-up of 21 patients with ACDF, showing that the C2–C7 ROM was the same as the baseline while increased on adjacent segments. Tian et al. [18] found no significant changes on UAS-ROM and LAS-ROM but a reduction on C2–C7 ROM after ACDF. Chang et al. [7] found that LAS-ROM increased after TDR, such as an increased ROM on C6/7 after C4/5-operated TDR. They considered the possible stiff neck caused by preoperative pain limited the activity and postoperative pain relief as well as paraspinal muscle relaxation allowed more ROM. The study found a reduction of UAS-ROM 1 week after surgery probably resulted from the limitations of the cervical collar and the psychological effect of the patient. During one decade after surgery, there were still more adjacent segments with increased ROM although nearly half of the cases suffered ROM reduction. In general, UAS-ROM and LAS-ROM remained stable after TDR.

Yu et al. [19] considered that non-operated segments increased ROM in order to maintain physiological activities after ACDF, where ROM gradually decreased cranially and caudally with a center of the operated segments. In this condition, ASD was incidental with adjacent segments overloaded. Yang et al. [20] measured the ROM and found 5.8 ° ± 1.6 ° and 8.3 ° ± 2.7 ° in the ASD group and non-ASD group respectively on the surgical segments. They also found that the surgical segment ROM was not a risk factor for ASD. In this study, the comparison of adjacent segment ROM in the ASD and non-ASD group showed a significant increase in the ASD group, which was indirectly consistent with Yang’s study. However, there was a lack of strength in the evidence yet due to the heterogeneity on ASD definition [21].

UAS-LOR and LAS-LOR remained stable after TDR in our study, considering little effect on the local adjacent segment sequence after the prosthesis implantation. The normal cervical spine alignment was important for maintaining the biomechanical environment, which could be impaired by unsuitable fixation, prosthesis subsidence, and implant loosening then lead to ASD [22]. Hwang et al. [23] found that increased C2–C7 LOR would reduce the adjacent segment ROM and relief the incidence of adjacent disc degeneration. The straight or kyphotic cervical spine were more likely to suffer symptoms than normal ones by 18 times and neck pain was significantly associated with LOR [24]. It was concluded that the adjacent segment LOR in the ASD group was larger than that of the non-ASD group in our study, suggesting excessive adjacent segmental LOR may cause ASD.

Once with the loss of LOR on index and adjacent segments, the moment of the instantaneous rotation axis would increase when the cervical vertebrae were put under axial load, causing disorder of original load balance [8]. In addition, the loss of cervical spine alignment could also cause intervertebral foramen stenosis, relaxation, and wrinkling of the ligament in spinal canal and reduction of the anteroposterior diameter of the spinal canal, which usually involved adjacent segments and consequently caused radiculopathy and myelopathy [25].

TDR can maintain disc pressure of the surgical and adjacent segments. Laxer et al. [26] simulated the flexion-extension movement of double-level TDR and ACDF under load conditions on cadaver specimens, determining a higher adjacent segment disc pressure after ACDF and a correlation between intervertebral disc pressure and IDH. Li et al. [27] found a preoperative IDH of 3.5 ± 1.3 mm in the ASD group and 4.9 ± 1.2 mm in the control group, while the postoperative IDH was 9.6 ± 1.4 mm in the ASD group and 7.1 ± 1.2 mm in the control group in 116 cases of ACDF. Postoperative IDH was the main factor for accelerating ASD, and according to Laxer's theory, intervertebral pressure and IDH remained stable after TDR and the stress distribution in the three adjacent segments changed little contrasted with baseline.

Our results suggested an interaction between UAS and LAS. Firstly, the biomechanical mode on adjacent segments had a displacement control mode and moment control mode. Jiang et al. [28] proposed a ROM redistribution theory for each segment to obtain the original C2–C7 ROM after surgery based on the hybrid of the two modes. By which, the interaction between UAS and LAS promoted to achieve the balance for more suitable postoperative activity. Secondly, intervertebral disc and two facets were three important structures for balancing the movement between the vertebral bodies. The instability and degeneration of any structure would affect the motion quality. The surgical segment, as the most severe level by natural degeneration and iatrogenic interference, interacted with the functional spinal units composed of UAS and LAS [15, 29]. Faizan et al. [30] confirmed that ACDF would affect the inter-facet pressure of adjacent segments but less after TDR. Thirdly, the prosthesis increased the stiffness of index segments and then the load between adjacent segments was transmitted to each other through the prosthesis, causing a mutual increased loads of adjacent segments [8]. TDR could mimic the anatomical features of the intervertebral disc and effectively maintain the disc pressure within a normal range, which could explain the reduction of ASD occurrence with TDR[31].

The results of this study may provide some advice for operation. In addition to the biomechanical differences between ACDF and TDR reported in previous studies, surgical technique would have an impact on the results. Tu et al. [32] performed a 2-yearfollow-up in 107 patients with TDR and found that surgical skill affected ASD occurrence and the ROM of surgical segments, while all the patients were operated by the same surgeon in our study. Other than lesions removal, it was worthy of mobility maintaining, proper intervertebral space distraction, and cervical alignment recovery. Ishihara et al. [33] proposed that excessive removal of vertebrae during TDR implantation can lead to ossification of the anterior border and may favor ASD occurrence. Hwang et al. [23] also confirmed that TDR had a high impact on the sagittal motion by different types of test models. It was reported that TDR would change towards to the biomechanics of ACDF with gradual deterioration with HO in the intervertebral space [34]. Therefore, it was necessary to minimize the incidence of iatrogenic HO.

There are limitations in our study. Firstly, there is a lack of a control group and no comparison of adjacent segments of patients, and the conclusion will be more reliable where there is a comparison between ACDF and TDR. In addition, radiograph interpretation can lead to measurement bias, because cervical movement is multidirectional whereas ROM or IDH in only one plane.

A 10-yearfollow-up of Prodisc-C showed that TDR had only a little influence on adjacent segments. There is an interaction on UAS and LAS. Keeping the ROM of surgical segments, recovery of IDH, and reduction of HO will bring benefit on adjacent segments and reduce the incidence of ASD.