Osteoarthritis Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Osteoarthritis, including details on treatment, symptoms, causes, medication.

Biomechanics of nonfusion implants.

Huang RC, Wright TM, Panjabi MM, Lipman JD

Hospital for Special Surgery, 535 East 70th Street, New York, NY 10021, USA. huangr@hss.edu

Although spine fusion is a versatile and effective technique in the treatment of spinal disorders, increased stresses on adjacent unfused levels lead to symptomatic adjacent level degeneration in many patients. The goal of nonfusion devices in spine surgery is to ablate or unload painful structures while preserving segmental motion. The intended performance of nonfusion devices such as disc replacement, nucleus pulposus replacement, and posterior stabilization devices can be understood from the biomechanics of the functional spinal unit in health and disease and the interplay between the motion segment and the device. Implant design issues can also markedly affect performance.

Published 13 June 2005 in Orthop Clin North Am, 36(3): 271-80.
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