ZimVie Inc. announced that the first patient in the United States has received the newly approved 4.5mm Mobi-C(R) Cervical Disc. Introduced in France in 2004, Mobi-C became the first cervical disc approved for one and two levels by the FDA in 2013. The smaller 4.5mm height Mobi-C implants, available in seven footprints to match patient anatomy, were approved by the FDA in August of this year.

On October 30, 2023, Gregory D. Lopez, M.D., orthopaedic spine surgeon with Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush in Chicago, Illinois, implanted the first 4.5mm Mobi-C in the United States. "The 59-year-old patient presented with a significantly collapsed C5-6 disc, and the new lower profile Mobi-C implant allowed me to avoid over-distracting the facet joints. The 4.5mm height Mobi-C makes it possible for me to offer pain relief and motion preservation to more of my patients with cervical disc degeneration.

Mobi-C is the first cervical disc prosthesis approved by the FDA for reconstruction of a cervical disc at both one and two levels (C3-C7). Mobi-C is a cobalt chromium alloy and polyethylene mobile-bearing prosthesis that is inserted in a single step, without requiring bone chiseling or other vertebral anchorage such as screws or keels. The Mobi-C Cervical Disc Prosthesis is indicated in skeletally mature patients for reconstruction of the disc from C3-C7 following discectomy at one level or two contiguous levels for intractable radiculopathy (arm pain and/or neurological deficit) with or without neck pain or myelopathy due to abnormality localized to the level of the disc space and at least one of the following conditions confirmed by radiographic imaging (CT, MRI or X-rays): herniated nucleus pulposus, spondylosis (defined by the presence of osteophytes) and/or visible loss of disc height compared to adjacent levels.

The Mobi-C Cervical Disc Prosthesis is implanted using an anterior approach. Patients should have failed at least six weeks of conservative treatment or demonstrated progressive signs or symptoms despite nonoperative treatment prior to implantation of the Mobi-C Cervical Disc Prosthesis.