@danylko I am a spine surgery patient from Mayo, and I had to decide between artificial disc and fusion of one level at C5/C6. I had read a lot of research before I made that decision. I wasn't a great candidate for an artificial disc because I had 2 mm of slipping of my vertebrae past each other. In clinical trials, having 4 mm of slipping disqualified patients from getting an artificial disc. Other things that can happen are that the spine can grow bone around an artificial disc to try to stabilize it, and mechanical devices can fail. There can be immune responses to foreign materials in the body. Screws can pull out and devices may migrate.

I chose fusion over an artificial disc.

Here is some information on case reports of failure of the Mobi C artificial disc. This link to an abstract in the Journal of Neurosurgery allows you to download a PDF version of the article for free.

The Journal of Neurosurgery
https://thejns.org/spine/view/journals/j-neurosurg-spine/33/6/article-p727.xml

The Nerve
This case literature from Korea describes mechanical failure of the Mobi C that caused paraplegia in the patient that was addressed with emergency surgery.
https://www.thenerve.net/m/journal/view.php?number=237

Seattle Science Foundation
Here is a surgeon's presentation at the Seattle Science Foundation about Mobi C failure:

It helps to first understand a little bit of terminology when the doctor talks about the "ALL" and the "PLL".
That is the "Anterior Longitudinal Ligament" and the "Posterior Longitudinal Ligament" and these stabilize the spine running the entire length of it in front (anterior) and back (posterior). He discusses that part of these ligaments that were removed during surgery may be a possible cause of Mobi C failure.

This link shows the anatomy of ALL https://radiopaedia.org/articles/anterior-longitudinal-ligament?lang=us
This link shows the anatomy of PLL https://radiopaedia.org/articles/posterior-longitudinal-ligament?lang=us

The annulus is the fibrous outer layer of a spinal disc.

ADR is the name of the "artificial disc replacement" surgical procedure.

Video
"Mobi c failures in cervical arthroplasty patients Varun Yadav, MD"

I agree with Amanda, that an opinion at a different facility with a spine specialist would be a good idea. To my eye, your imaging looks similar to what is presented in these cases on Mobi C failure, but because this is a patient forum, no one can give you a diagnostic answer. That must come from a specialist in the field. Not all surgeons do disc replacements. Some only do fusions. My surgeon at Mayo (Jeremy Fogelson) did both fusions and disc replacement and he was a valuable consult for me a few years back. I have not had any other spine issues and I am 6 years past my spine fusion surgery.

Do you have a spine specialist in mind for an opinion about your Mobi C disc?

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