Spine Center’s Dr. Milam Performs Two-Level Cervical Disc Replacement

OrthoCarolina spine surgeon Alden Milam has performed a two-level cervical disc replacement procedure utilizing a novel medical device recently approved by the FDA. The procedure was the first FDA approved two-level disc replacement in the state of North Carolina.

The device, the first and only cervical disc replacement FDA approved for both one and two-level applications, was the subject of a rigorous FDA Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) trial. In the study, the two-level cervical disc replacement procedure demonstrated an overall study success rate of 69.7% as compared to traditional cervical fusion results of 37.4%. At 24 months, those who received the two-level cervical disc replacement during the trial phase also returned to work on average 3 weeks earlier as compared to patients treated with cervical fusion. The disc replacement patients also had lower rates of subsequent surgeries and reduced rates of ongoing degeneration at spinal segments adjacent to the surgery.

“For the first time I am able to offer a significant number of my patients who suffer from two-level cervical disease a superior treatment option to traditional cervical spine fusion,” said Dr. Milam. “OrthoCarolina is far ahead of the curve on technology, and I’m happy to be able to offer patients this state-of-the-art procedure which is supported by the highest level of medical evidence available for a medical device.”

More about Dr. Milam.