Cervical total disk replacement: complications and avoidance.

Anterior cervical diskectomy and fusion for neurologic deficits, radicular arm pain, and neck pain refractory to conservative management are successful. The approach and procedure were first described in 1955 and have become the anterior cervical standard of care for orthopedic surgeons and neurosurgeons. Advancements and innovations have addressed disease processes of the cervical spine with motion-preserving technology. The possibility of obtaining anterior cervical decompression while maintaining adjacent segment motion led to the advent of cervical total disk replacement. The Food and Drug Administration has approved 3 cervical devices with other investigational device exemption trials under way.