Newport Beach, Calif.-based DISC Surgery Center has performed its 1,000th artificial disc replacement.
The ASC said April 21 that it first performed the procedure in 2014 and has since doubled its caseload each year. In 2021, artificial disc replacements accounted for 40 percent of the center's spine cases. The center placed more than 390 implants in 2021.
The center said it averages more than 35 artificial disc placements each month.
Surgeons at the center have performed the disc replacement procedures on NHL star Tyler Johnson, actress Melissa Gilbert and motocross star Carey Hart. Athletes are able to return to action quicker with artificial disc replacements because it allows mobility to be resumed quicker and with less pain than spinal fusion, and with equal effectiveness.
"In addition to cervical cases, we are now performing lumbar disc replacement in the outpatient setting," neurosurgeon Ali Mesiwala, MD, said in a news release from the center. "Minimally invasive motion preservation like this is truly the future of spine."