Early failure of lumbar disc replacement - Case report and review of the literature

We report a case of a patient who underwent two-level lumbar total disc replacement at L4-L5 and L5-S1 with the ProDisc II prosthesis, who was diagnosed with early anterior migration of the caudally placed device with partial Occlusion of the left common iliac vein. The device was explanted and revised to an anterior lumbar interbody fusion with posterior instrumented fusion. Despite the substantial experience with lumbar disc arthroplasty in Europe and the United States, there exist few reports of device explantation or revision. To our knowledge, early postoperative vascular complications, while discussed hypothetically, have not been reported. With implantation of the total disc replacement in proximity to the great vessels, the potential for vascular complications is clearly substantial. The technical aspects of the device explantation are discussed as well as issues pertinent to early failure. A literature review of device complications associated with lumbar total disc replacement is also presented.