Cervical artificial implant makes history in Valley

Patients with cervical disc disorders maintain motion in their neck following
surgery.

YOUNGSTOWN — Orthopedic surgeons Drs. Paul J. Pagano and Douglas Musser performed the Mahoning Valley’s first cervical artificial disc implant Thursday at Forum Health Northside Medical Center.

The patient, a 39-year-old Canfield man, was operated on Thursday morning and was released from the hospital at about noon Friday, hospital officials said.

Unlike traditional fusion surgery, the new surgical technique, which hospital officials say is the first performed in the Valley, allows patients with cervical disc disorders to maintain motion in their neck after surgery.

The implant, the Prestige Cervical Disc, is the first artificial disc for the spine approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The artificial disc, which replaces a damaged cervical disc, is designed to mimic the disc’s normal function and movement, such as bending, flexing and rotating, hospital officials said.

The same team of surgeons performed the first lumbar disc replacement in the area at Northside in February 2005, officials said.

“Patients who want to maintain motion in their necks now have a new option,” said Dr. Pagano, who specializes in spine surgery. “The disc may revolutionize treatment options for surgical patients who normally would have only the option of a motion-restricting process of spinal fusion.”

Degenerative disc disease occurs when the discs that cushion the vertebrae, or bones of the spine, become compressed, herniated, worn or damaged. Pressure on the nerves and/or spinal cord from the disc material causes pain, numbness, weakness, muscle spasms and loss of coordination.

Cervical artificial disc surgery, a minimally invasive procedure also known as cervical disc arthoplasty, now provides many patients with an alternative to cervical spinal fusion, Dr. Pagano said.

alcorn@vindy.com