Influence of facet and posterior muscle degeneration on clinical results of lumbar total disc replacement: two-year follow-up.

Abstract

This is the first study showing that a semiconstrained implant with a fixed posterior center of rotation can be implanted with grade 1 and 2 facet arthrosis with a good clinical outcome. This seems to confirm previous work showing that a posterior center of rotation lightens the load on the facets. This is also the first study to show a relationship between muscle fatty degeneration and clinical results since the greater the amount of fat, the less satisfactory the result. These promising midterm results must be confirmed by further studies.