adr vs fusion or both

[fred c]

first timer here. anybody ever heard of somone having a 4 level cervical adr?dr b in germany says i need one.dr c in spain says he would do fusion c5\6-6\7 and adr above.would love some feed back.oh yea the price of course is double in germany.


thanks fred c

[Maria]

I think that would be Mark. He can tell you more and probably knows other persons that have had multilevel cervical adr of that magnitude.

GPN Artificial Disc Replacement ADR

[dshobbies]

Hi Fred and welcome,

I'm sorry you need to be here. Obviously Dr. B feels ADRs are the way to go whereas this other doctor in Spain does not. Also Dr. C wants to do 3 levels, Dr. B claims 4 are bad. Cost is a huge factor but so is experience. I've often said your choice of doctors is the single most important decision.

Right now I think it's time for you to seek other opinions. Also find out why these doctors differ on the number of bad levels. I'd go along with Maria's recommendation that you contact Mark for additional assistance. He can put you in touch with some excellent doctors for additional opinions. Once satisfied with your knowledge of your own specifics and possible benefits/consequences of the available choices, you can move forward.

Good luck and keep us posted, Dale

[Katie]

I've had up to five levels recommended by some very top surgeons in the world, but ended up having three done in March, one ADR at C5/6 and XLIF at L4/5 and ALIF at L5/S1. So far everything seems to be doing really well, and my pain levels are minimal.

I recommend having more opinions, as mentioned above. They can always do more levels, but cannot undo what has been done.

[mmglobal]

I do have 4-level cervical ADR and 2-level lumbar ADR. Contact me via the GPN website and I'll share what I know.... no charge.