What is ACDF?
ACDF stands for anterior cervical discectomy and fusion, which is a surgical procedure usually performed on patients who have neck or arm pain because of a damaged disc in the neck. The procedure is also done to stabilize the bones of the neck, in order to prevent injury to the spinal cord. Surgery is normally done after less invasive methods of treatment, such as physical therapy and medications, have been unsuccessful in treating pain or stabilizing the injury. The term cervical means neck, and the cervical vertebrae are the top seven bones of the spinal column that run from the skull to the top part of the back. Between each vertebra is a disc, which is a doughnut-shaped tissue filled with a cushioning gel that allows the bones to move without rubbing against each other. When the disc becomes damaged, the gel leaks into the surrounding body cavities, pressing on nerves and creating pressure and pain. Discs can become damaged from a traumatic injury such as a car accident, or can be
Babs, ACDF is anterior cervical diskectomy with fusion. Basically removal of the old disk(s) and replacement with either some of your own hip bone or a donor bone from a cadavre. From what I’ve read (and I’m no expert by any means) the fusion success rates of the bone are higher with your own bone. Anterior means they make the incision on the front of your neck (throat area) and do the removal of the old disk through there, instead of from the back of the neck. Also from what I’ve read, the phrase “with instrumentation” often follows the term ACDF, meaning that a metal plate is screwed into the vertebrae above and below the fused vertebra(e) to help hold it all in place while it fuses and give additional strength on a long term basis. I don’t know whether that is always required, because I see a lot of people who have posted saying they had no instrumentation and had no problems. Hope this helps!
