Chicago Sun Times discusses the successful pioneering of artificial disc replacement (ADR) among professional U.S. hockey players and includes commentary from Frank P. Cammisa Jr., MD, chief emeritus of the Spine Service at HSS, who advocated to bring the landmark procedure to the U.S.

Las Vegas Golden Knights center Jack Eichel met with Dr. Cammisa while he was considering his treatment options. As a result, Dr. Cammisa started working with the National Hockey League Players’ Association throughout the process to explain the available data for ADR.

“We went back to some of the original work we did, in terms of the mechanics and results and what kinds of athletes have gotten it over the years,” said Dr. Cammisa. “It hadn’t been done [before], but I came to the conclusion with that data that it was reasonable in a hockey player to do a disc replacement. I spoke to the league about the reasons why, and I wrote a report.”

Dr. Cammisa noted that the operation does entail some risks and remains viable for only a limited range of injuries.

He added, “Now there’s a precedent. Hopefully they’ll continue to have great careers. But any reasonable surgeon will tell any player that comes in, ‘Listen, it’s not designed for everybody.’”

Read the full article at Chicago.suntimes.com. Additional coverage: Beckersspine.com.