STUDY DESIGN Retrospective. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the clinical safety and accuracy of the Tai Chi ((Equation is included in full-text article.)) technique for placing pedicle screws, without intraoperative radiographic imaging, in severe scoliotic spines. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA The current techniques for pedicle screw placement have a number of drawbacks in cases of severe scoliosis, in...

AIM To confirm whether implanting pedicle-screw at the level of fractured vertebra increases adverse effects on fracture healing. MATERIAL AND METHODS CT follow-up was conducted for 28 patients who sustained thoracic or lumbar burst fracture and underwent posterior pedicle-screw instrumentation and reduction including implanting screws into the fractured vertebra at the same time. The time fo...

BACKGROUND Both unilateral pedicle screw fixation with posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF) and bilateral pedicle screw fixation with PLIF are used to treat lumbar degenerative diseases (LDD). However, which one is a better treatment for LDD remains considerable controversy. Therefore, the focus of this meta-analysis was to assess the merits and shortcomings of efficacy of these 2 surgical ...

BACKGROUND Accurate insertion of pedicle screws in scoliosis patients is a challenge for surgeons. Computer-assisted navigation techniques might help improve the accuracy of screw placement, thereby avoiding complications. Thus, the objective of this present work is to compare the accuracy and postoperative assessment of pedicle screw placement in scoliosis patients using a computer-assisted na...

STUDY DESIGN A retrospective study of intradural extramedullary tumor. OBJECTIVE To compare the treatment results in the different surgeries of spinal intradural extramedullary tumor. METHODS The study retrospectively reviewed 122 patients. The minimally invasive surgery (MIS) group was divided into Group A (hemilaminectomy + tumor microscopic excision) and Group B (laminectomy + tumor micr...

The pedicle screw diameter, composite and design are variables that can affect the threshold of intraoperative electromyographic monitoring. Even though we know that larger diameter objects tend to have less resistance, no study documented the effect that this variable could have on pedicle screw resistance. Using high quality equipment, resistance and resistivity of ten pedicle screws (from fo...

STUDY DESIGN.: Prospective trial. OBJECTIVE.: To develop and validate a novel, patient-specific navigational template for cervical pedicle placement. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA.: Owing to the narrow bony anatomy and the proximity to the vertebral artery and the spinal cord, cervical instrumentation procedures demand the need for a precise technique for screw placement. PATIENT.: Specific drill ...

BACKGROUND The pullout strength of pedicle screws is influenced by many factors, including diameter of the screws, implant design, and augmentation with bone cement such as PMMA. In the present study, the pullout strength of an innovative fenestrated screw augmented with PMMA was investigated and was compared to unaugmented fenestrated, standard and dual outer diameter screw. METHODS Twenty f...

Park P, Foley KT, Cowan JA, Marca FL. Department of Neurosurgery, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, MI, USA Surg Neurol Int. 2010 Aug Background: Pedicle screw misplacement is relatively common, with reported rates ranging up to 42%. Although computer-assisted image guidance (CaIG) has been shown to improve accuracy in open spinal surgery, its use in minimally invasive procedures...

conclusions application of pedicular screw in unstable upper and middle thoracic spine fractures is an effective method that can correct kyphotic deformity and anterolisthesis and improve neurologic deficit. background treatment of unstable upper and middle thoracic spine fractures remains controversial. there is no consensus regarding optimal treatment. objectives in this study, we evaluated t...