Background: There are wide treatment modalities for degenerative disc diseases of cervical spines. However, surgery is indicated when conservative treatment fails, and each procedure had its limitation.
Aim of the work: to compare the outcome between cervical peek cage and dynamic cervical implant for anterior cervical discectomy fusion (ACDF) for patients with degenerated cervical disc disease.
Patients and methods: Fifty patients with degenerative disk disease (DDD) were treated by cervical poly- etherether-ketone (PEEK) cage (25 patients) and another 25 with dynamic cervical implant (DCI). All patients assessed pre- and post-operatively by clinical and radiological examinations, with pain assessment by visual analogue scale and calculation of the range of motion. Any neurological deficits were documented in both pre-and post-operative periods.
Results: Both groups were comparable regarding patient characteristics, preoperative pain and preoperative range of motion. The mean percentage of pain reduction was significantly higher among PEEK when compared to DCI group (81.93±7.07 vs 66.23±11.48 respectively). In DCI group, preoperative mean range of motion at the operated level was 7.56, changed to 6.64 postoperatively, which is statistically significant. Similarly, in PEEK cage group, preoperative mean range of motion at operated level was 7.60 Changed to 7.52 which is statistically non-significant. Complications were mild and treated conservatively.
Conclusion: PEEK cage is associated with better alleviation of pain either at the neck or arm pain. On the other side, DCI is associated with slightly better range of motion. However, global range of motion is comparable between both groups.