Arthroplasty of the Spine (European Spine Journal, V. 11, Suppl. 2)

From the reviews of the first edition:

"This book primarily addresses the current concepts on lumbar and cervical spine intervertebral disc replacement ... . It is clearly of interest to those spine surgeons possibly contemplating this form of surgery but it also forms very useful reading for all those clinicians, including physicians and physiotherapists, involved with the management of spinal pain syndromes ... . this book makes easy reading for those of us who wish to understand the concepts better." (Dr. Keith Bush, Journal of Orthopaedic Medicine, Vol. 26 (2), 2004)

"This book is a comprehensive review by various authors who are experts in their own fields, dealing with total disc replacement ... . there are a number of valuable review articles dealing with wider aspects. The historical review by the editors is a fascinating account of the enormous number of patent applications related to total disc replacement ... . Surgeons considering disc replacements for low back pain should read this book and study it carefully as it covers the field very fully." (R. Mulholland, Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Vol. 87-B (4), April, 2005)

"Arthroplasties are among the most recent but are also those which theoretically seem the most tempting of the many innovations of spine surgery. ... This work provides a collection of articles primarily written by the promoters of new processes ... . This work must appear in the library of all spine surgeons." (Laurent Balabaud, European Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery & Traumatology, Vol. 15 (1), 2005)

Joint replacement is a logical step in the treatment of severe joint pathologies with irreversible lesions resisting conservative therapy. At the spinal level, arthrodesis became, very early, the gold standard of treatment for severe intervertebral disc pathologies. The next logical step was to envision functional replacement, and this step was taken as early as 1956, when the first intervertebral implant was described. However, it took many more years and a great variety of proposed implant designs before clinical applications could be attempted.