With disc replacement, patients are usually able to get off of pain medications after surgery sooner than with fusion. They tend to get back to work sooner and they tend to generally get back to their lifestyle faster.
Not every patient is going to be a perfect candidate for a disk replacement surgery. Sometimes bone quality, age, significance of the degeneration in the spine and possible slipping of spine bone can disqualify a patient for a replacement. There are also FDA legitimate contraindications. At the end of the day, I will always explain why a patient is or isn’t a candidate and ultimately recommend what is best for the patient.
