RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Are We Finally Ready for Total Joint Replacement of the Spine? An Extension of Charnley’s Vision
JF International Journal of Spine Surgery
JO Int J Spine Surg
FD International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery
SP 24
OP 31
DO 10.14444/8538
VO 18
IS 1
A1 S. Craig Humphreys
A1 Scott D. Hodges
A1 J. Alex Sielatycki
A1 Ahilan Sivaganesan
A1 Jon E. Block
YR 2024
UL http://ijssurgery.com//content/18/1/24.abstract
AB Professor Sir John Charnley has been rightfully hailed as a visionary innovator for conceiving, designing, and validating the Operation of the Century—the total hip arthroplasty. His groundbreaking achievement forever changed the orthopedic management of chronically painful and dysfunctional arthritic joints. However, the well-accepted surgical approach of completely removing the diseased joint and replacing it with a durable and anatomically based implant never translated to the treatment of the degenerated spine. Instead, decompression coupled with fusion evolved into the workhorse intervention. In this commentary, the authors explore the reasons why arthrodesis has remained the mainstay over arthroplasty in the field of spine surgery as well as discuss the potential shift in the paradigm when it comes to treating degenerative lumbar disease.