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. 2022 Jun 17;12(6):986.
doi: 10.3390/jpm12060986.

Single-Level Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Interbody Fusion: A Comparison between Porous Tantalum and Polyetheretherketone Cages

Edoardo Mazzucchi  1   2 , Giuseppe La Rocca  1   2 , Andrea Perna  3   4 , Fabrizio Pignotti  1   2 , Gianluca Galieri  1   2 , Vincenzo De Santis  3   4 , Pierluigi Rinaldi  5 , Francesco Ciro Tamburrelli  4   6 , Giovanni Sabatino  1   2
Affiliations

Single-Level Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Interbody Fusion: A Comparison between Porous Tantalum and Polyetheretherketone Cages

Edoardo Mazzucchi et al. J Pers Med. .

Abstract

Background: Anterior cervical discectomy and interbody fusion (ACDF) may be performed with different kinds of stand-alone cages. Tantalum and polyetheretherketone (PEEK) are two of the most commonly used materials in this procedure. Few comparisons between different stand-alone implants for ACDF have been reported in the literature. Methods: We performed a comparison between patients who underwent ACDF with either a porous tantalum or a PEEK stand-alone cage, in two spine surgery units for single-level disc herniation. Clinical outcome [Neck Disability Index (NDI), Visual Analog Scale (VAS) for pain, Short Form-36 (SF-36)] and radiological outcome (lordosis, fusion and subsidence) were measured before surgery and at least one year after surgery in both groups. Results: Thirty-eight patients underwent ACDF with a porous tantalum cage, and thirty-one with a PEEK cage. The improvement of NDI and SF-36 was significantly superior in the PEEK group (p = 0.002 and p = 0.049 respectively). Moreover, the variation of the Cobb angle for the cervical spine was significantly higher in the PEEK group (p < 0.001). Conclusions: In a retrospective analysis of two groups of patients with at least one year of follow-up, a stand-alone PEEK cage showed superior clinical results, with improved cervical lordosis, compared to a stand-alone porous tantalum cage. Further studies are needed to confirm these data.

Keywords: PEEK cage; cervical disc herniation; discectomy; lordosis; stand-alone cage; subsidence; tantalum.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Cervical X-ray immediately after surgery (a,b) and one year after surgery (c) in a patient who underwent ACDF with PEEK cage (CoRoent Small Interlock, NuVasive, San Diego, CA, USA) implantation at C5–C6 level.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Cervical X-ray immediately after surgery (a,b) and one year after surgery (c) in a patient who underwent ACDF with tantalum cage (Trabecular Metal TM-S Cervical Fusion Device, Zimmer Spine, Minneapolis, MN, USA) implantation at C4–C5 level.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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