At this point, I have not had to revise a cervical or lumbar disc replacement due to wear and tear, and it’s been over 20 years. The chance of a spinal disc replacement wearing out is much lower compared to a total knee or hip replacement. This is because the forces on the spine are much less than those on other joints.
In fact, just today, I saw a patient in the office who is 20 years post-lumbar disc replacement and doing very well. We now have over 20 years of follow-up with some of our patients who participated in the original FDA trials, and they’re still doing well. We haven’t had to revise or remove the disc replacement, nor have we needed to fuse it.
This has been my personal experience, though other surgeons have had to fuse a disc replacement later as part of the revision strategy if something goes wrong. However, as of now, disc replacements are holding up very well over many years, even decades.
