Spinal Disc Transplant Shows Promise Against Back Pain

Discs serve as pads, or shock absorbers, between the spine's bony vertebrae. Discs have a tough outer membrane and an elastic core. A distorted, or herniated, disc can injure the spinal cord or the nerves connected to the spinal cord. Degenerative disc disease is the leading cause of herniated discs.

Spinal discs from human donors were transplanted five years ago into five patients with chronic back pain caused by disc degeneration, physicians at the University of Hong Kong and the Naval General Hospital in Bejing said. As reported in the March 24 issue of The Lancet, the five-year follow-up found an improvement in symptoms, no signs of immune rejection and only mild degeneration of the transplanted discs.Overall, the discs kept the patients' necks supple and stable, though the doctors report "mild" signs of degeneration in the transplanted discs five years or more after the operation.

Spinal disc transplants could have a real future, however, because surgeons are not always happy with the results of current operations. When back pain cannot be treated with medications, a surgical procedure called fusion is done, uniting the bones to relieve the pain. Recently, surgeons have started to implant artificial discs in some cases.