Deuk Laser Disc Repair(®) is a safe and effective treatment for symptomatic cervical disc disease

BACKGROUND: Deuk Laser Disc Repair(®) is a new full-endoscopic surgical procedure to repair symptomatic cervical disc disease. METHODS: A prospective cohort of 66 consecutive patients underwent cervical Deuk Laser Disc Repair(®) for one (n = 21) or two adjacent (n = 45) symptomatic levels of cervical disc disease and were evaluated postoperatively for resolution of headache, neck pain, arm pain, and radicular symptoms. All patients were candidates for anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) or arthroplasty. The Mann–Whitney Wilcoxon test was used to calculate P values. RESULTS: All patients (n = 66) had significant improvement in preoperative symptoms with an average symptom resolution of 94.6%. Fifty percent (n = 33) had 100% resolution of all preoperative cervicogenic symptoms. Only 4.5% (n = 3) had less than 80% resolution of preoperative symptoms. Visual analog scale (VAS) significantly improved from 8.7 preoperatively to 0.5 postoperatively (P < 0.001) for the cohort. Average operative and recovery times were 57 and 52 minutes, respectively. There were no perioperative complications. Recurrent disc herniation occurred in one patient (1.5%). Average postoperative follow-up was 94 days and no significant intergroup difference in outcomes was observed (P = 0.111) in patients with <90 days (n = 52) or >90 days (n = 14, mean 319 days) follow-up. No significant difference in outcomes was observed (P = 0.774) for patients undergoing one or two level Deuk Laser Disc Repair(®). Patients diagnosed with postoperative cervical facet syndrome did significantly worse (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Deuk Laser Disc Repair(®) is a safe and effective alternative to ACDF or arthroplasty for the treatment of one or two adjacent symptomatic cervical disc herniations with an overall success rate of 94.6%.