Cervical Disc Replacement Across California's Central Valley

Where you will be seen

Our practice has a single office in Fresno, California. Every consultation, surgery and follow-up visit for a cervical disc replacement is scheduled through that office, and the operation itself takes place at Fresno Surgical Hospital. We do not have satellite clinics in other cities. The pages for each city below explain the drive and give local planning tips.

The operation in short

A disc in the neck can wear down or bulge backward and press on a nerve root or the spinal cord. That can cause neck pain, pain down the arm, numb fingers or a weak grip. In a cervical disc replacement, the surgeon works through a short incision on the front of the neck, removes the disc and any bone spurs, frees the nerves and places an implant built to move. The traditional alternative, an anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF), joins the two bones instead. Both are good operations. The right one depends on your imaging and health. Read our full cervical disc replacement page for the comparison, recovery ranges and risks.

Who may be a candidate

• Adults with arm pain, numbness or weakness from a cervical disc herniation that has not improved with nonsurgical care
• People with degenerative disc disease at one or two levels, with bone spurs crowding a nerve or the cord

A replacement may not fit if you have strong arthritis in the facet joints at the back of the neck, weak bones, an unstable neck, or problems at more than two levels. Neck pain alone is usually treated without surgery.

Why people come to Fresno for it

Cervical disc replacement is one of the four procedures Dr. Devan Higginbotham focuses on. He completed his spine fellowship at UC Davis, and in early 2026 he performed his first cervical total disc replacement with the Simplify Cervical Disc at Saint Agnes Medical Center in Fresno. He also performs neck fusions, which matters when you want a recommendation based on your anatomy rather than on a single technique. For patients who already have a surgical plan elsewhere, a visit here can also serve as a second opinion before neck surgery.

Other procedures we focus on include endoscopic surgery for Central Valley patients, 3D-guided spine surgery and complex adult deformity correction in California.

Traveling for neck surgery

Neck surgery affects how comfortable a long car ride feels. A few tips for patients coming from outside Fresno:

• Plan the ride home. Many patients go home the same day or after one night. You will need a driver. A travel pillow helps support the neck.
• Driving yourself. Most people wait until they are off opioid pain medicine and can turn their head to check traffic. On Highway 99, that matters.
• Swallowing. Soreness or a lump feeling when swallowing is common for days to weeks. Pack water and soft snacks for the trip.
• Follow-up visits. These often include x-rays to check the implant, so the visits are best done at our office.

Find your city

Mileage is approximate, from city center to city center.

• Fresno Our office
• Clovis about 9 miles
• Visalia about 44 miles
• Modesto about 95 miles
• Bakersfield about 109 miles

Live somewhere else in the Valley, such as Madera, Merced or Hanford? You can still be seen at our Fresno office. The locations page lists every city page by procedure.

Questions about neck disc replacement from Valley patients