Yes, disc replacement surgery is generally considered less invasive than spinal fusion surgery. Disc replacement involves replacing the damaged disc with an artificial one, while spinal fusion involves fusing the vertebrae together. Disc replacement typically results in a shorter hospital stay, quicker recovery, and a faster return to normal activities.
Here’s a more detailed comparison:
- Invasiveness:Disc replacement is often performed with smaller incisions and less tissue disruption than spinal fusion, which requires larger incisions and bone grafting.
- Recovery:Disc replacement patients generally recover faster and return to work or activities sooner than spinal fusion patients.
- Motion:Disc replacement allows for more natural spinal motion compared to spinal fusion, which eliminates movement at the fused level.
- Adjacent Segment Degeneration (ASD):Spinal fusion can increase the stress on adjacent spinal segments, potentially leading to ASD and the need for future surgery. Disc replacement helps preserve motion, which may help protect adjacent levels from degeneration
Dr. Karsten Ritter-Lang explains that disc replacement is involves less surgical trauma than fusion surgery.
Dr. Karsten Ritter-Lang – Orthopedic Surgeon – Trauma Surgeon – Medical Director
As one of the worlds first Disc Replacement surgeons Dr. Ritter-Lang has the experience to properly evaluate each patients situation.
With all the options available the solutions he can offer will give you the best chance of a successful surgery outcome.
First Disc Replacement Surgeons?
Dr. Ritter-Lang was involved in the introduction of Disc Replacement as an advanced spine solution since its beginnings over 20 years ago and has been doing M6 Disc Replacement longer than any surgeon in the world.
Dr. Ritter-Lang has performed over 10,000 spinal column reconstruction surgeries and has done over 8,000 Disc Replacement procedures using a wide range of the most advanced Disc Replacement implants both cervical and lumbar.
Dr. Ritter-Lang earned the title of Specialist for Trauma Surgery in 2009.
Dr. Ritter-Lang is one of the most respected speakers worldwide at symposiums about orthopedic surgery and neurosurgery regarding spinal surgery using artificial inter-vertebral discs. His participation in the ongoing development of inter-vertebral disc prosthetics technology, prototypes, and implants, provides great benefits to the patients he treats. Patients come from all over the world for the advanced, and often complex, spinal surgery solutions provided by Dr. Ritter-Lang and his highly qualified team.
Dr. Ritter-Lang is among an elite group of the most experienced Disc Replacement Surgeons in the world, and has dedicated his career to the sub-specialty of Disc Replacement.