Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) – Thursday marked the opening of the 2021-22 season for the Buffalo Sabres.
It has been a tumultuous offseason for the Sabres. Despite making some notable trades with an eye toward the future, the team is in a stalemate with its franchise star, Jack Eichel, whose medical recovery has been one of the biggest stories in the National Hockey League.
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Eichel suffered a herniated disk in his neck and has been out of action since March 7. However, offseason drama between Eichel and the team over how to treat the neck injury was made public. Eichel reportedly wants artificial disk replacement surgery, while the Sabres' medical staff are pushing for a spinal fusion because this type of disk replacement surgery has never been performed on an NHL player.
WBEN spoke to two doctors about the difference in the two treatments. Neither of the doctors are privy to Eichel’s specific medical history and spoke in broad terms about the treatment.
Dr. Laszlo Mechtler, the Medical Director at Dent Institute, said the procedure known as Anterior Cervical Disk Fusion, is more common with 132,000 procedures done each year annually.
“Most spine specialists are very comfortable with that procedure which is an anterior procedure for disk herniation and other spine problems such as spinal cord compression from bone or discs,” Mechtler said.
ACDF has been performed since the 1950s. While disk replacement is a “newer” procedure, but Mechtler hesitates to call it “new” because the first surgery was performed in 1966.
“It appears that the Europeans have embraced it more than the Americans,” Mechtler said. “Not to say in the United States this procedure is not done routinely. It is done routinely. But in the world of sports, ACDF, especially in American football, tends to be the procedure of choice.”
Mechtler said disk replacement should not be considered an “experimental” procedure. However, there is little evidence of its impact on professional athletes.
Dr. Jeff Mullin, a neurosurgeon who is also an assistant professor at the University at Buffalo, said spinal fusion tends to result in people losing range of motion.
“A lot of time when we’re doing that surgery, the patient has already degenerated and worn out the discs and there’s not that much level before surgery,” Mullin said. “There’s some down sides to that. It puts more stress on the other levels above or below where you do surgery and there could be more degeneration in other levels in an accelerated fashion, which could mean more surgery down the line.”
Mullin said disk fusion is not the best option for everybody, such as if someone’s disks are too degenerated. He recommends disk replacement for patients who are younger who still have good height in their disks.
Mechtler said he understands the hesitancy for wanting to the Sabres to recommend disk replacement because of the lack of a track record. But he also notes the business implications that could be involved due to Eichel’s job as a professional athlete.
“It’s a different world,” Mechtler said. “I talk about normal people going through procedures. I think that decision has to be made between the doctor and patient, but both procedures are standard procedures now. One with more experience and one with less experience… The final decision should be made by the patient with a strong recommendation by the surgeon and the sports medicine doctor.”
The Sabres have reportedly made several attempts to trade Eichel, though no team has bit due to his contract, his injury status and the asking price in return for any Eichel deal.
Buffalo ended up winning in their first game without Eichel this season, earning a 5-1 victory over the Canadiens at KeyBank Center.
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