Cervical disc arthroplasty for the treatment of adjacent segment disease: A systematic review of clinical evidence.

The safety and efficacy of cervical disc arthroplasty (CDA) performed adjacent to previous fusion for the treatment of adjacent segment disease (ASD) remains unknown. This systematic review summarizes clinical evidence on the outcomes of CDA performed adjacent to previous cervical fusion. A systematic search of PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Medline and Embase for literature published through March 2017 was conducted. All the studies on CDA for the treatment of ASD after cervical fusion surgery were included. Two independent reviewers searched and assessed the literature according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines (PRISMA). A total of 5 studies were identified. The overall quality of evidence was low. All included studies demonstrated that clinical outcomes reflected by several assessment scales improved after arthroplasty. Cervical lordosis range of motion (ROM) after arthroplasty remained and was even enhanced postoperatively. The rate of complications and subsequent surgeries was low. There is a dearth of information regarding the outcomes of CDA for the treatment of ASD in the literature. In general, CDA may be a safe and effective surgical procedure to treat ASD, but this conclusion needs to be confirmed by future long-term, prospective clinical trials.