• Pan Li, Runbo Lei, Lixiang Ding, Youxue Wang, Zhengxu Ye, Dechen Yu, Kangkang Su, Xuerui Yang, Bin Wei, Jinfeng Huang, Xiongfei Cao, Le Chang, Yongfeng Chen, Lu Gan, Junjie Du, Lei Shangguan, Mo Li, and Zhuojing Luo.
• Department of Orthopaedics, Xijing Hospital, Air Force Medical University, Xi'an China.
• Spine. 2025 Jan 21.

Study Design/SettingA retrospective cohort study.ObjectiveTo compare long-term outcomes and complications of cervical disc replacement (CDR) and anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) with cage-plate constructs (CPC) and stand-alone (SA) cages in treating degenerative cervical spondylosis.Summary Of Background DataACDF is commonly used for cervical radiculopathy but may increase adjacent segment degeneration (ASD). CDR has gained popularity by preserving motion and potentially reducing ASD, while SA cages offer a simpler alternative to CPC. Despite widespread adoption, further research is needed to clarify the long-term outcomes and associated complications.MethodsA retrospective analysis was conducted on 1,146 patients who underwent cervical surgery between 2009 and 2012 at three Chinese hospitals, grouped into CDR (n=220), CPC-ACDF (n=540), and SA-ACDF (n=386). Primary outcomes included overall success rate and complications. Secondary measures were JOA, VAS, SF-36 scores, and imaging parameters.ResultsThe CDR group exhibited a significantly higher overall success rate compared to CPC-ACDF and SA-ACDF groups. Dysphagia incidence immediately post-surgery was significantly lower in the CDR and SA-ACDF groups compared to CPC-ACDF. At the final follow-up, implant subsidence was lowest in the CDR group. Radiographic-ASD incidence was significantly lower in the CDR and SA-ACDF groups compared to CPC-ACDF, with SA-ACDF having the lowest rate of symptomatic-ASD. The reoperation occurred in 38 (7.0%) CPC-ACDF, 18 (4.7%) SA-ACDF, and 8 (3.6%) CDR patients. Despite a 65.5% incidence of heterotopic ossification (HO), CDR partially preserved angular range of motion. Multivariate logistic regression analysis suggested that SA-ACDF and CDR were protective factors against postoperative radiographic-ASD. Conditional nomograms demonstrated good predictive performance for symptomatic-ASD, supported by receiver operating characteristic and calibration curves.ConclusionThis study suggests that CDR provides similar clinical outcomes with fewer complications compared to ACDF. However, further research is needed to confirm these findings, particularly considering the variability between different CDR devices and potential for selection bias.Copyright © 2025 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

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