Vertical split fracture of the vertebral body following total disc replacement using ProDisc: report of two cases.

As ProDisc has a tall keel on the plates, it has the potential to cause a vertical fracture of the vertebral body. However, to our knowledge, there is no previously reported case of a vertical split fracture of the vertebral body after ProDisc disc arthroplasty that was attributed to the keel design of the ProDisc. We report two cases of vertical split fracture of the vertebral body after total disc replacement (TDR) with ProDisc and discuss the issue of the height of the keel of the prosthesis. Even though there was no serious clinical consequence as a result of the fracture in our cases, except the fact that the patients were dissatisfied with the surgery at 3-month follow-up because of the prolonged back pain, the potential of the fracture to cause other serious complications such as hematoma, device migration, or surgical failure cannot be ignored. The keel design of the ProDisc has the disadvantage that it can cause a vertebral body fracture in some patients. Therefore, care should be exercised not to fracture the vertebral body when TDR is done with the ProDisc, especially in a patient with small vertebral body height or when it is done at multiple levels.