ACDF

Neck pain that radiates into the shoulder and arm often comes from a disc pressing on a nerve root, and when conservative treatment stops helping, anterior cervical discectomy and fusion is one option surgeons turn to. The procedure removes the damaged disc and stabilizes the segment. The spine team at Goodman Campbell can evaluate whether ACDF is the right approach for your case.

Your surgeon used the words neck, spine, and fusion in the same sentence, and the question you went home with is how serious this really is. Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion, or ACDF, is major surgery, but it is also among the most commonly performed spine procedures. This article explains the real risks, the recovery timeline, and the questions worth asking before you decide.