Rathod is the first patient to have undergone the advanced artificial disc replacement surgery in Mumbai. Dr Hee Hwan Tak, assistant professor of National University of Singapore, performed the surgery on Rathod along with Dr Vinod Agrawal at Saifee Hospital.

In the traditional fusion surgery, a small part of the bone is taken from the hip and grafted on the hollow space where the damaged cervical vertebra is located. However, normal movement of the neck after the surgery becomes almost impossible. While the artificial disc replacement with chrome-cobalt (relatively older version of artificial disc) promises to preserve the normal motion of the treated spinal segment, the advanced features of the new artificial cervical disc helps movement very much close to normal. The titanium-built artificial disc, one installed in Rathod, has a combination of porous titanium plasma spray (TPS) and hydroxyapatite (HA) coating that provide immediate and long-term fixation to the vertebral body.

The recovery period for fusion surgery is longer as compared to artificial disc replacement, “In fusion surgery, the patient has to wait for at least six weeks in order to heal the grafted area and also have to wear rigid belts on the neck for support, whereas in artificial disc replacement the patient gets discharged in 24 hours and need not wear rigid cervical belts,” said Dr Tak.

“Within a few hours, Rathod has started walking, his arm has stopped paining and within 24 hours he can walk home,” said Dr Agrawal, an orthopaedic surgeon from the hospital. The surgery can be performed between the cervical third vertebra and the seventh.

Not just in terms of recovery, but the titanium disc is better compared to cobalt chrome as it is MRI compatible. “If Rathod has to go for second surgery, doctors will have a clear picture as the MRI images will look much clearer as compared to cobalt chrome which is obscure, as titanium has less artifacts leading to accurate interpretation” said Dr Tak.