{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,17]],"date-time":"2026-06-17T00:45:14Z","timestamp":1781657114935,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":24,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,6,17]],"date-time":"2022-06-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1655424000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JPM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Anterior cervical discectomy and interbody fusion (ACDF) may be performed with different kinds of stand-alone cages. Tantalum and polyetheretherketone (PEEK) are two of the most commonly used materials in this procedure. Few comparisons between different stand-alone implants for ACDF have been reported in the literature. Methods: We performed a comparison between patients who underwent ACDF with either a porous tantalum or a PEEK stand-alone cage, in two spine surgery units for single-level disc herniation. Clinical outcome [Neck Disability Index (NDI), Visual Analog Scale (VAS) for pain, Short Form-36 (SF-36)] and radiological outcome (lordosis, fusion and subsidence) were measured before surgery and at least one year after surgery in both groups. Results: Thirty-eight patients underwent ACDF with a porous tantalum cage, and thirty-one with a PEEK cage. The improvement of NDI and SF-36 was significantly superior in the PEEK group (p = 0.002 and p = 0.049 respectively). Moreover, the variation of the Cobb angle for the cervical spine was significantly higher in the PEEK group (p &lt; 0.001). Conclusions: In a retrospective analysis of two groups of patients with at least one year of follow-up, a stand-alone PEEK cage showed superior clinical results, with improved cervical lordosis, compared to a stand-alone porous tantalum cage. Further studies are needed to confirm these data.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jpm12060986","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,6,17]],"date-time":"2022-06-17T11:45:44Z","timestamp":1655466344000},"page":"986","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":7,"title":["Single-Level Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Interbody Fusion: A Comparison between Porous Tantalum and Polyetheretherketone Cages"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Edoardo","family":"Mazzucchi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurosurgery, Mater Olbia Hospital, 07026 Olbia, Italy"},{"name":"Institute of Neurosurgery, IRCCS Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli, Catholic University, 00168 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1830-4849","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Giuseppe","family":"La Rocca","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurosurgery, Mater Olbia Hospital, 07026 Olbia, Italy"},{"name":"Institute of Neurosurgery, IRCCS Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli, Catholic University, 00168 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2475-1955","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andrea","family":"Perna","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Orthopedics, Mater Olbia Hospital, 07026 Olbia, Italy"},{"name":"Institute of Orthopedics, IRCCS Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli, Catholic University, 00168 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fabrizio","family":"Pignotti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurosurgery, Mater Olbia Hospital, 07026 Olbia, Italy"},{"name":"Institute of Neurosurgery, IRCCS Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli, Catholic University, 00168 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gianluca","family":"Galieri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurosurgery, Mater Olbia Hospital, 07026 Olbia, Italy"},{"name":"Institute of Neurosurgery, IRCCS Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli, Catholic University, 00168 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Vincenzo","family":"De Santis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Orthopedics, Mater Olbia Hospital, 07026 Olbia, Italy"},{"name":"Institute of Orthopedics, IRCCS Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli, Catholic University, 00168 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Pierluigi","family":"Rinaldi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Radiology, Mater Olbia Hospital, 07026 Olbia, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Francesco Ciro","family":"Tamburrelli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Orthopedics, IRCCS Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli, Catholic University, 00168 Rome, Italy"},{"name":"Unit of Spine Surgery, IRCCS Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli, Catholic University, 00168 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Giovanni","family":"Sabatino","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurosurgery, Mater Olbia Hospital, 07026 Olbia, Italy"},{"name":"Institute of Neurosurgery, IRCCS Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli, Catholic University, 00168 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,6,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1756","DOI":"10.1097\/01.brs.0000172148.86756.ce","article-title":"Is autograft the gold standard in achieving radiographic fusion in one-level anterior cervical discectomy and fusion with rigid anterior plate fixation?","volume":"30","author":"Samartzis","year":"2005","journal-title":"Spine"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2138","DOI":"10.1097\/01.brs.0000180479.63092.17","article-title":"Long-term results after anterior cervical discectomy and fusion with allograft and plating: A 5- to 11-year radiologic and clinical follow-up study","volume":"30","author":"Yue","year":"2005","journal-title":"Spine"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"907","DOI":"10.1302\/0301-620X.81B5.0810907","article-title":"Characteristics of bone ingrowth and interface mechanics of a new porous tantalum biomaterial","volume":"81","author":"Bobyn","year":"1999","journal-title":"J. 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