4 levels? WOW! Well, when you are only dealing with 1 or 2 levels, Fusion is a viable option that according to studies, works quite well as long as you are ok with the high risk of needing further surgeries down the road (maybe 7-10 yrs down the road)as the adjacent discs also blow out due to the extra stress load placed on them by a "Stiff" back caused by fusion. The younger you are, the more time you have left in your life to experience more discs to blow and your back will just get stiffer and stiffer. No one can predict just how many additional levels will blow out/degenerate as time goes by. I can tell you that my doctor in germany is a HUGE outspoken proponent of the idea that not only is motion preservation with artificial disc better than fusion(for those who meet the ADR criteria, such as good facet joints etc), but he is especially outspoken about the more levels that need doing, the more critical it is that you go with Artificial discs. He told me this himself as we were discussing the issue. Technically, they have not proven here in the US studies that ADR prevents further adjacent disc degeneration, (this is because they only just started keeping records and doing controlled studies), but the doctors in Europe (who are clearly hands down way more advanced than the US doctors in back technology) seem to fully believe that ADR does indeed prevent adjacent disc degeneration due to its "Motion Preservation".
Another thing to think about besides risk of further deterioration of the spine due to adjacent disc degeneration with fusion,.....it seems to me , based on my reading patient outcome stories with fusion vs ADR, that ADR has a much faster recovery rate and that a significant % of fusion folks seem to not get pain relief or still h ave pain issues even up to many years after the surgery. I have read too many stories of people still suffering after fusion but extremely rarely do I read the same with people who had ADR. This is just my own personal observation and opinion. Just read stories on spinehealth.com and its loaded with people complaining of being in pain months and years after fusion. DOesnt look good to me. ON the other hand, read patient stories on those who have had ADR and clearly, most are having far less issues and are overall far more satisfied with ADR than the fusion folks.You can register here to read TONS of ADR patient stories
ADR Support (Hope its ok to post other board links here, if not Mark will delete I guess)
Also, if you go ADR, its unlikely you will get insurance to pay for it. My 3 level cervical ADR in germany cost $40K. If you are having lumbar issues its about 25% more in costs I believe.Insurance will cover however many fusion levels you need done.
Hope this helps
