ACDF (Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion)

What it is

Through a small incision at the front of the neck, the surgeon removes the problem disc (and any bone spurs) to take pressure off the spinal cord and nerves, then places a spacer in the empty disc space and fuses (permanently joins) the two vertebrae together, often with a small plate and screws. This is one of the most common and well-established spine operations¹.

Why it's done this way

Approaching from the front gives excellent access to remove the disc and relieve pressure, and the fusion stabilizes the segment. The main long-term trade-off is that fusing a segment eliminates motion there and can place extra stress on the neighboring levels over time — a process called adjacent segment degeneration¹.