By Vicki Prichard
NKyTribune reporter
When Laura Rohling began experiencing horrible headaches, vertigo, and significant pain in her shoulder last September, it struck here as “weird.”
“It was weird because it reared its ugly head all of a sudden,” says Rohling.
With no history of back or neck issues, Rohling, who is 45-years-old, a mom to two boys, and a full-time real estate broker, was baffled. She had always led an active lifestyle, but couldn’t really think of a particular incident that might have triggered the pain.
Laura Rohling
Within four months the pain she felt was incapacitating.
“I woke up one morning with excruciating pain,” says Rohling. “I thought it was my rotator cuff because it was in my shoulder. I couldn’t lift my hand above my shoulder.”
She went to her chiropractor, and tried therapeutic massage, but within a month the paid had returned.
Seeking relief and answers, she met with Dr. John Jacquemin at Commonwealth Orthopaedic Centers in Florence.
X-rays showed that Rohling’s pain was emanating from her neck rather than her shoulder, revealing one crushed cervical disc and yet another protruding. She would need immediate surgery.
Rohling opted for an innovative and relatively unknown medical procedure, a two-level disc replacement surgery using a new Mobi-C Cervical Disc device as opposed to the more commonly practiced spinal fusion surgery. Among its many benefits, cervical disc replacement is a less invasive surgery and restores full mobility to a patient’s neck.
First used in France in 2004, and approved in the US in 2013 after a rigorous clinical trial, the Mobi-C Cervical Disc was the first device for cervical total disc replacement to be FDA approved for use at two contiguous levels. Dr. Jacquemin says it has been implanted more than 40,000 times in 25 countries.
The device is a cobalt chromium alloy and polyethylene mobile-bearing prosthesis that is inserted in one step, and doesn’t require bone chiseling to accommodate vertebral anchorage such as screws.
Unlike cervical fusion, which has long been the standard of care, which immobilizes the targeted vertebrae, the Mobi-C’s patented mobile-bearing technology is designed to allow the disc to self-adjust to facilitate motion similar to that of the natural cervical spine. It is currently the most widely covered device for one- and two-level cervical disc replacement by commercial health insurers in the U.S.
“The Mobi-C is an innovative procedure designed to maintain full mobility at the operated level of neck, compared to fusion, which is designed to end normal motion at the operated level,” says Dr. Jacquemin.
“Surgeons are increasingly favoring the more natural movement afforded by cervical disc replacement, as patients are able to return to their normal activities more quickly than with spinal fusion. Mobi-C demonstrated superiority compared to fusion for two-level disc replacement based on overall trial success in an FDA trial.”
As Rohling neared her surgery date, the pain had evolved to numbness.
“The pain wasn’t even pain anymore. My fingers were numb.”
Dr. Jacquemin
She didn’t leave her Crescent Springs home because she couldn’t move.
“Even though I had a laptop, I couldn’t bend my head for more than two minutes,” says Rohling. “And I’m not the type of person to sit around and not work.”
She knew the surgery was her only option for ending the pain. She was confident that she was in good hands with Dr. Jacquemin, who performed the surgery at the St. Elizabeth Spine Center.
“Everyone at the Spine Center was so nice,” says Rohling. “I’m not a crier but I remember sobbing, and they were so kind and nice, and did everything to get medication to me to make sure I was comfortable.”
Dr. Jacquemin says the Mobi-C device is used in procedures 30 to 40 times per year.
“It requires more strict alignment and placement than standard fusion. Therefore, not every patient that wants a disc is able to have one placed,” he says.
But Rohling was among the lucky ones.
“If I weren’t able to do that surgery, I don’t know what I would have done,” says Rohling. “Prior to surgery I could not get out of a recliner. Now, my headaches are gone, and I’m back to normal.”
Contact Vicki Prichard at vprich@gmail.com.
