Objective: To explore the influence of discectomy and artificial disc replacement on the upper lumbar facet joint and to provide the evidence for use of artificial disc replacement.
Methods: Under the loads of 200-2000 N axis pressure and 1-10 Nm back-extending/side-bending pressure on the 7 fresh adult corpses, the pressure of L3.4 facet joint was measured in the case of L4.5 disc integrity, discectomy and artificial disc replacement and the statistical analysis was done.
Results: Under the same load (axis, back-extending/side bending), there were significant differences (P<0. 01) in the pressure of upper lumbar facet joint both between disc integrity and discectomy and between discectomy and artificial disc replacement, and there was no difference (P>0. 05) between disc integrity and artificial disc replacement.
Conclusion: The stress of upper lumbar facet joint reduced after discectomy, it implies that simply discectomy may change biomechanics of lumbar and lead to secondary lumbar structure degeneration. The stress of upper lumbar facet joint is close to the normal value after artificial disc replacement, it implies that artificial disc replacement may protect lumbar structure. It provides some biomechanics foundation and evidence for artificial disc replacement.