M6 Cervical vs ProDisc

JKDE302 · #1 (**permalink**) 10-14-2009, 01:03 AM

Ok here is my situation last night I was in the YMCA and I seen a friend of mine that played on my High School Basketball team...He told me that he had a 2 level ADR surgery done in May here in Delaware using the ProDisc at c5-6 and c6-7...Now mind you I was shocked to here that because out of all the doctors I been to in this area none ever mentioned that they could do a 2 level here in the USA...The doctor that is supposedly the best Nero in Delaware even told me he does NOT do 2 levels and that maybe he could do a Prestige at my C4-5 and a Fusion at my C5-6...So I just got of the phone with my friend that got the 2 level ProDisc and he told me the name of the doctor that did the Surgery... So I looked him up and to my suprise he was in my insurance plan...I plan to call him and make an appointment...Here is the thing I need advice on, last week my mom helped me send my MRI and X-Rays to Stenum in Germany because we had been reading alot about the M6 spinal kinetics being the best in the world at this time...I would hate to have my family pay out of pocket to go to Germany unless the shock absorption from the M6 would really make a huge difference in my life...

Thank you to everybody that takes the time to reads this...

Bill1961 · #2 (**permalink**) 10-14-2009, 02:22 PM

Before you jump into the world of ADR or Fusion have you consulted with a neurosurgeon to see if there is a minimally invasive procedure such a a foraminotomy that can help you at least at one level if not both?

As for which ADR is better, it's probably not as much of an issue as opposed to who puts them in. If you have a US surgeon who can do the surgery and get insurance approval, you should really consider staying in the US. Easier follow up care and it seems you have a good reference with you friend.

Joe56 · #3 (**permalink**) 10-24-2009, 05:01 PM

Note to those considering older ball in socket designs which can get a bit out of control in multi-level cases, consider the M6 implant, it appears the new designs will have controled motion to help with this. I am looking at Stenum Hospital for 2-3 levels.

JKDE302 · #4 (**permalink**) 10-25-2009, 09:31 PM

^ Joe56 do you know anyone who has the M6 implant...

mmglobal · #5 (**permalink**) 10-26-2009, 05:42 AM

Joe, I disagree with the concept that the M6 provides stability that is not present with the ball and socket style ADR's. I presume that the theory is that the woven 'annulus' provides additional help here. I've seen the M6 and it's a very interesting design. In theory, I do like what the pseudo annulus does... presumably providing some dampening of the motion at the ADR levels. However, I do not see this helping the 'out of control' concept of multi-level ADR.

The M6 is a mobile core device and, in practice, I see it having the same problem as other mobile core devices. If something provides some off-kilter loading, the core gets pushed to one side and it stays there. Search this forum for the word tiddly-winks and you'll find what I've written about mobile core devices. I have seen several M6 configurations that have this problem. It is a problem in single-level cases too but gets exaggerated in multi-level cases, especially if there is incorrect placement. (I have 3 clients who have had m6's explanted and know more.)

The ball and socket designs that have mobile cores (including the M6) will have this problem more than the stationary core designs. Having said that, I spoke to a friend tonight. He is the first patient in the world with a 4-level Mobi-C (highly mobile core) and is several years post-op with no stability issues at all.

I'm going to COPY the M6 posts to the M6 vs. ProDisc thread (M6 Cervical vs ProDisc) that was started a few days ago. This thread is very long and involved and devoted to Steve's ordeal.

All the best.

Mark

mmglobal · #6 (**permalink**) 10-26-2009, 05:53 AM

I just copied the 3 previous posts from another thread. (I didn't want the M6 discussion to get buried in a very long thread about something else.)

To continue, the soft core of the M6 does promise to provide some shock absorption. Intuitively, that seems to be a great idea. We do have 22 shock absorbers in our spine and it remains to be proven how important getting some cushion at the ADR levels will be. I expect that it will be like most of the other features we see with all the devices... there will be some advantage, and some disadvantage. Will it break down faster? Will it change shape? Wear particles and their effects? I don't know the answers to these questions.

It's tough to sort out the marketing spin from the important features. The keeled devices keep the prosthesis from rotating, but if the cleated devices don't rotate, how important is that? There are advantages and disadvantges to keels and cleats, but my point is, the discussion about arresting rotational forces is not relevant to us as patients... but it's effective marketing.

Mark

JKDE302 · #7 (**permalink**) 10-27-2009, 02:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mmglobal

I just copied the 3 previous posts from another thread.

Mark where did you copy those to?