Cervical Disk Arthroplasty in a Collegiate Football Player

While the body of research investigating anterior cervical disk fusion (ACDF) for symptomatic cervical disk herniations in high-level athletes is large, evidence for cervical disk replacement (CDR) is sparse. The amount of patients able to return to sport after an ACDF is estimated to be 73.5%, causing surgeons to search for alternatives with better outcomes in this population. This case report describes the successful treatment of a symptomatic collegiate American football player with C6-C7 disk herniation and C5-C6 central canal stenosis.

This is a 21-year-old American football safety who underwent a C5-6 and C6-7 cervical disk arthroplasty. Three weeks postoperatively, the patient demonstrated nearly complete resolution of weakness, full resolution of radiculopathy, and normal cervical range of motion in all planes.

The CDR may be considered as an alternative to the ACDF in the treatment of high-level contact athletes. Compared to the ACDF, CDR has been shown in prior studies to decrease the long-term risk of adjacent segment degeneration. Future studies comparing ACDF to CDR in the high-level contact sport athlete population are needed. CDR appears to be a promising surgical intervention for symptomatic patients in this population.