I live in a small, rural part of the United States. So far no one in our area is doing artificial disc replacements. How long will I have to wait before we see this operation in our area?

Artificial disc replacement (ADR) is a major change in the way spine surgery is done these days. Since the FDA gave approval for the Charité ADR, 2500 surgeons have been trained to do this operation.

Records show that another 120 surgeons are trained every week. The course for this training is full for the next six months. Being in a rural area may not be a problem. If there’s even a handful of surgeons who are interested, training is available.

Contact your nearest orthopedic surgeon and express your interest. If the physician is aware of local interest, he or she may seek the needed training sooner than later.