Health technology assessment on spinal implants

Spinal surgery, including fusion and dynamic stabilisation, is one of the available treatment options for patients with symptomatic degenerative changes of the lumbar or cervical spine. The various symptoms can include local pain, radicular pain due to nerve root compression, as well as other neurological symptoms such as muscular weakness and numbness. 

Dynamic stabilisation has been suggested as an alternative to fusion to obtain better treatment results due to a preservation of movement in the spine. Three main types of implants can be distinguished disc prosthesis, interspinous spacers and pedicle based dynamic stabilisation. These implants can be inserted using different surgical approaches and in combination with other surgical interventions like direct decompression.