Dr. Bray and Dr. Shifflett were recently quoted in two SpineNation articles which discussed lumbar artificial disc replacements.
Dr. Shifflett explained why lumbar artificial disc replacements are often the best option for patients:
...a disc replacement in the right patient and under the right circumstances can go a long way toward increasing your mobility and allowing you to get back to the activities that you like, earlier and more aggressively.
Ultimately, you're kind of paying it forward to yourself, because with certain interventions like spinal fusions, we worry about the adjacent disks wearing out or breaking down. Disc replacements hopefully give greater longevity to the other disks, so that you need less surgery in the future and are able to continue doing what you want to.
Dr. Shifflett in SpineNation. Read the entire article.
In a different article that also included Dr. Shifflett, Dr. Bray gave detailed insights into lumbar artificial disc replacements:
A lumbar ADR can be done as an outpatient procedure. Critical to its success, however, is having an experienced team, which includes a vascular surgeon who can take a minimally invasive approach. In general, patients are up and walking within hours of the procedure.
The operating room has a complex set-up that includes an operating microscope and neuromonitoring [to monitor a patient's nervous system during the procedure]. In addition, if there is any bleeding, which is a very rare event, a cell saver is used [to collect and clean the patient's blood so it can be returned to them].
Dr. Bray in SpineNation. Read more insights from Drs. Bray and Shifflett here.