Prodisc® L Total Lumbar Disc Replacement
By far, the best solution for patients suffering with acute sciatica and chronic lumbar back pain caused by slipped or herniated discs. Clinically proven to:
- Permanently relieve pain
- Fully restore spinal mobility & strength
- Allow a return to strenuous activities and sports
The Key Points
Minimally invasive technique: implantation by mini-retroperitoneal approach
Incision size
Total surgery duration
Average hospital stay
Hotel stay in Montpellier
Return home to the UK
Minimum time off work
Resume driving
Average recovery time
Resume light exercise
Full competitive sports
*These are mean times, with possibility of significant variability from one patient to another.
The Implantation Technique
The surgical technique for inserting the implant is minimally invasive. It allows the surgeon to access the spine through a 5 to 8 cm incision through the abdomen in a natural space around the peritoneum sac, which plays a protective role for the abdominal organs. The main blood vessels (aorta, vena cava) are then mobilized, enabling complete visualisation of the disc.
The only element severed throughout the entire approach is the abdominal muscle sheath, which will be sutured at the end of the procedure.
Why Operate Through the Abdomen?
The disc is in the front part of the spine, while the nerves and spinal cord pass through a canal at the back of the spine, the spinal cord. By accessing the disc through the abdomen, the Prodisc® L implant can be placed without disturbing nerve roots.
Consequently, there is minimal risk of spinal nerve damage or permanent numbness, tingling or burning resulting from the procedure.
Recurrent Slipped Discs / Repeat Discectomies
It is important to understand that the purpose of a discectomy is to relieve the compression of the nerve by a disc fragment, but it does not treat the disc disease responsible for the herniation which will continue to progress with worsening symptoms.
Prodisc® L total lumbar disc replacement treats the diseased disc and the herniation in a single operation by totally replacing the degenerated disc, eliminating the need for repeat discectomies or other procedures.
The Prodisc® L Adventure
From Dr. Thierry Marnay’s very first patients to global success
Patients implanted with the Prodisc® L in 1990 are still being monitored at the CCV Montpellier, making it the most experienced centre in the world for disc replacement surgery.
Dr Thierry Marnay
Prodisc® L inventor
1st Prodisc® L at the CCV in Montpellier
1st Prodisc® L in the USA
The Prodisc® L is the most frequently installed implant globally every year for the last 25 years
Having conquered Europe at the end of the 1990s, the Prodisc® L disc replacement then became widely used globally, notably with FDA approval in 2006.
The patients who underwent the first disc replacement in the early ’90s are still being monitored at the CCV Montpellier, and for the moment, no patient has required an implant change.
Consequently, the disc replacement lifespan is considered to be at least 30 years.
Prodisc® L - The Gold Standard
No other disc replacement system has been as widely studied as the Prodisc® L.
Over 25 years of global clinical practice
The most studied disc replacement system in the world1
More than 540 published studies for over 13,000 patients1
More than 225,000 device implantations and a reoperation rate of less than 1%