Approximately 200,000 lumbar surgeries are performed in the United States each year. These surgeries usually involve a fusion, often combined with implanted devices such as rods, screws and cages. The Maverick™ Artificial Disc could potentially offer another option to patients who suffer from degenerative disc disease (DDD).

What is DDD?

DDD is part of the natural aging process. As we grow older, the discs that separate our vertebrae lose their flexibility. Discs are small gel-like cushions that act as shock absorbers between the bones in the spine. For approximately half of the over-40 population, the natural degeneration of these intervertebral discs can cause chronic back pain, loss of mobility, nerve root pathology and spinal cord compression. Worn out discs become a source of pain and frustration because as they shrink, the space available for nerve roots and the spinal cord shrinks. Worn out discs are susceptible to injury. The additional pressure of a sudden movement or heavy lifting can cause a weakened disc to tear.

Good Disc, Bad Disc

Those who suffer from DDD and do not respond to conservative treatment might be candidates for surgery. The most common form of surgery for treating DDD in the lumbar area is a spinal fusion. In this procedure, the bad disc is removed and replaced with a bone graft, which is traditionally taken either from a patient’s iliac crest (hip area) or from a cadaver. Metal implants are then attached to the vertebrae above and below the graft to stabilize the area until the graft and vertebrae can fuse as one, creating one solid piece of bone. Lumbar fusions have been conducted for many years with excellent results. However, recovery can take a long time, and mobility is sometimes limited since the original vertebrae-and-disc combination is replaced by a solid bone connection. The average age of a patient having lumbar fusion is 42.

Maverick™Technology: New Thinking in DDD

The Maverick™ Artificial Disc is a potential alternative treatment that replaces a bad disc with an artificial disc implant. Although the procedure has been used in Europe for over 10 years, the Maverick™ Artificial Disc is considered an investigational device, limited by Federal (or United States) law to investigational use. If the procedure works as well in the U.S. as it has in Europe, it has the potential to do for back pain what hip replacement surgery has done for millions of seniors worldwide: reduce pain, increase mobility, and remove barriers to a more active lifestyle.

A co-inventor of the technology, Dr. Kenneth Pettine, holds three patents on the Maverick™ Artificial Disc. The disc is compatible with the patient's body tissue. It does not limit the movement of the spine, and wear on adjacent discs may be minimal. An important advantage is that the Maverick™ Artificial Disc is designed to last for a lifetime. Once in place, the disc allows patients to bend and turn and in many cases return to an active lifestyle.

Maverick Study Abstract