a procedureArtificial disc replacement

also: total disc replacement · TDR · disc arthroplasty · cervical disc replacement · CDR · ADR

Surgeons say cervical or lumbar and then the level. Hospitals selling it say motion-preserving, which is the argument against fusion said as a product name.

The worn disc is removed and replaced with a metal-and-polymer implant that keeps the two vertebrae moving, instead of a cage and screws that lock them together. It is done at one level in the neck or the lower back, for degenerative disc disease with nerve symptoms that has not settled with conservative treatment.

How long it takes

The numbers behind this

	Days
In hospital	1.0
Before a flight	—
Back to ordinary use	—

Root. disc: Greek diskos, a flat plate, by way of Latin discus. Prosthesis is Greek prosthesis, an addition or something put on. Arthroplasty again: arthron, a joint, plastos, moulded — a spinal segment treated as a joint rather than as a beam to be pinned.
The unit is the motion segment, and every price read for this record is a one-level price. Trade practice

The story Cited

Disc replacement is fusion's competitor, and the pages that sell one usually sell the other. On Bumrungrad's Spine Institute price list, read on 16 September 2026, a one-level cervical disc replacement is 468,600 baht with one night, sitting directly above a one-level anterior cervical fusion at 420,000 and a one-level lumbar fusion at 576,300. The exclusion on the disc replacement package is one line long and reads: artificial cervical disc.

That single line is the same trap as the knee implant. The package buys two hours of theatre, a night in a standard single room, the surgeon, the assistant and the anaesthetist — and not the device the operation is named after.

Australia prices the two rivals identically. Item 51131, cervical artificial intervertebral total disc replacement at one motion segment, pays $1,295.85 as at 1 July 2026, exactly what item 51041 pays for a one-segment fusion. What the item adds instead of money is a gate: five written conditions the patient must meet — no prior surgery at that cervical level, skeletal maturity, symptomatic degenerative disc disease with radiculopathy, no vertebral osteoporosis, and failed conservative therapy.

In India, Yashoda Hospitals in Hyderabad publishes its own cost page for the operation: a range of Rs. 3,50,000 to Rs. 6,00,000, an average of about Rs. 4,00,000 and a table figure of Rs. 4,20,000, with no date on the page and no statement of what the figure covers.

Inference — three publishers, three different objects again: a package with the implant carved out, a payer's fee with an eligibility test attached, and a hospital's own range with neither date nor inclusion list. Only the first can be compared with a bill.

How it works Trade practice

General anaesthesia. In the neck the surgeon works from the front through a crease incision, removes the disc and the marginal osteophytes — bone spurs at the rim — and seats the prosthesis between the vertebral bodies; Bumrungrad's package books two hours of theatre and one night. Lumbar replacement is done from the front through the abdomen and is the bigger undertaking. Motion at the treated level is kept, which is the whole argument for the device.

Today Cited

As of 16 September 2026 the published disc replacement prices on this site are 468,600 baht in Bangkok excluding the disc itself, an Australian schedule fee of $1,295.85 with a five-part eligibility test written into the item, and an Indian hospital's own range of Rs. 3,50,000 to Rs. 6,00,000 carrying no date.

Notes

This page describes an operation, its rivalry with fusion, and the prices published for it. Nothing here is medical advice.

What it costs where anyone publishes a price

a provider's package pricea state tariff or what a payer refundsa list price, an estimate or an advertised rangelogarithmic scale, US$

3 published prices for this procedure, across 3 countries.

The 3 prices behind this chart

Dollar figures are the published price put through one dated rate table; the published currency and date are in the next columns.

Country	Kind	US$	As published	Dated	Source
Australia	tariff	924	1,296 AUD	2026-07-01	page
India	quoted-range	3,646	350,000–600,000 INR	2026	page
Thailand	package	14,074	468,600 THB	2026-09-16	page

Every price this directory has read, for every procedure, sits together on the prices page.

Published prices Cited

Each is a number read off a page on the date named, in the currency the provider bills in. Dollars are that number through one dated rate table.

1,296 AUD ≈ US$924

tariff · Australia · Australia · for Artificial disc replacement

Includes.

the medical service described in item 51131: cervical artificial intervertebral total disc replacement, at one motion segment only, including removal of disc and marginal osteophytes

Excludes.

hospital accommodation and theatre
the prosthesis
the anaesthetist's own items
any amount charged above the schedule fee

Published price dated 2026-07-01 · dollars at the rate of Wed, 16 Sep 2026 · the page it was read from · Medicare Benefits Schedule item 51131, fee last updated 1 July 2026; 75% benefit $971.90. The item pays only where the patient has had no prior surgery at the same cervical level, is skeletally mature, has symptomatic degenerative disc disease with radiculopathy, does not have vertebral osteoporosis and has failed conservative therapy. The identical fee is paid for a one-segment fusion under item 51041.

350,000–600,000 INR ≈ US$3,646–6,251

quoted-range · Hyderabad · India · for Artificial disc replacement

Published price dated 2026 · dollars at the rate of Wed, 16 Sep 2026 · the page it was read from · the hospital's own cost page gives "Rs. 3,50,000 to Rs. 6,00,000", an average of "approximately Rs. 4,00,000" and a table line of "4,20,000/- (Approx.)". The page carries no publication date and no statement of what the figure covers, so as_of is the year it was read, 16 September 2026, and not a date the hospital published.

468,600 THB ≈ US$14,074

package · Bumrungrad International Hospital · for Artificial disc replacement

Includes.

operating room charges for 2 hours including OR room, recovery room, scrub nurse and circulating nurse
accommodation for 1 day in a standard single room
medical equipment and medical supplies specified in the package
anaesthesia and medications related to the procedure
surgeon
assistant surgeon if necessary
anaesthesiologist

Excludes.

artificial cervical disc
consultation fee for an initial visit and follow-up visits
inpatient stay more than 1 day, ICU, or stay past the approved discharge day
internist's and other specialists' consultations
outpatient fees before admission
complex cases requiring emergency surgery
laboratory and diagnostic tests before and after operation, blood transfusion and biopsy
take-home medications and medical supplies
pre-operative exercise programme by a physical therapist

Published price dated 2026-09-16 · dollars at the rate of Wed, 16 Sep 2026 · the page it was read from · package CDR01, one level, price stated valid until 31 December 2026. The first exclusion is the prosthesis the operation is named for.

The particulars

family	orthopaedic
setting	inpatient
anaesthesia	general
region	Everywhere
stay days	1
about those numbers	One night is the stay named in Bumrungrad's CDR01 package for a one-level cervical disc replacement. No page read for this record states a recovery span or a flying interval, so both stay empty. (2026-09-16) · source
links	Bumrungrad package CDR01 · MBS item 51131
confidence	medium · needs verification · updated 2026-09-16

Not to be confused with

Spinal fusion — Both clear the disc space; fusion locks the segment with a cage and screws, replacement keeps it moving with a prosthesis, and both exclude the hardware from the package price.

What it connects to

a procedureSpinal fusionThe operation this one competes with, 48,600 baht cheaper at the same Bangkok hospital and paid the same fee in Australia.and of this page it says: The motion-preserving alternative argued against this one, and 48,600 baht dearer at the same neck level on the same Bangkok page.a hospitalBumrungrad International HospitalPublishes the one-level cervical disc replacement package this page reads, prosthesis excluded.a countryThailandWhere the package price on this page is sold.a countryIndiaWhere the hospital's own undated range on this page comes from.a countryAustraliaWhose schedule attaches a five-part eligibility test to the fee.a riskThe implant is excludedThe exclusion that removes the device the operation is named after.a stepReading the exclusionsThe step on which this package's headline figure turns.a wordPrior authorisationWhat five written eligibility conditions amount to when a payer applies them.and of this page it says: Five written eligibility conditions, which is what this gate looks like in a fee schedule.a wordTariffWhat the Australian figure is, and why it is not a bill.a long oneThe price that isn'tA headline price with the prosthesis taken out of it.

Pages that point here

a hospital · on this pageWooridul Spine HospitalThe motion-preserving alternative to fusion; the Gulf centre staffed from this hospital lists it, and the Seoul pages read for this record do not.

Sources

Cervical Disc Replacement (CDR) — package CDR01 — Bumrungrad International Hospital · link (read 2026-09-16)
Spine Surgery — Spine Institute package list — Bumrungrad International Hospital · link (read 2026-09-16)
MBS item 51131 — cervical artificial intervertebral total disc replacement, one motion segment — Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing · link (read 2026-09-16)
Artificial disc replacement surgery cost in India — Yashoda Hospitals, Hyderabad · link (read 2026-09-16)

Where it came from: Cited a source named here · Harvested pulled from an open dataset · Trade practice how the trade works, hedged · Inference this project's own reasoning · Field somebody stood there. This record as JSON.

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