Postoperative outcome of robot-assisted transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion: A pilot study

Sultan Alsalmi; Mohammad Alsofyani; Abdulgadir Bugdadi; Abdu Alkhairi; Johann Peltier; Michel Lefranc

doi:10.4103/ajns.AJNS_558_20

Asian Journal of Neurosurgery, Table of Contents

CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Asian J Neurosurg 2021; 16(04): 759-764
DOI: 10.4103/ajns.AJNS_558_20

Original Article

Postoperative outcome of robot-assisted transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion: A pilot study

Authors

Sultan Alsalmi

¹Department of Neurosurgery, Amiens Picardie University Medical Center, Jules Verne University of Picardie, Amiens, France

²Department of Neurosurgery, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia
Mohammad Alsofyani

³Department of Orthopedic, Faculty of Medicine, University of Hail, Hail
Abdulgadir Bugdadi

⁴Department of Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine, Sorbonne University, Paris, France

⁵Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Umm Al Qura University, Makkah Almukarramah, Saudi Arabia
Abdu Alkhairi

⁶Department of Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine, University Paris Descartes, Paris
Johann Peltier

¹Department of Neurosurgery, Amiens Picardie University Medical Center, Jules Verne University of Picardie, Amiens, France
Michel Lefranc

¹Department of Neurosurgery, Amiens Picardie University Medical Center, Jules Verne University of Picardie, Amiens, France

Abstract

Introduction: Transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) surgery is well established for the treatment of discopathy, foraminal disc herniation, and recurrent disc herniation. At the Amiens university medical center, we have been using a robot-assisted technique for performing the TLIF. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the radiological and clinical outcome, specifically pain, of patients having undergone robot-assisted TLIF. Materials and Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data of patients having undergone minimally invasive (MI) robot-assisted TLIF between November 2014 and July 2018 in a French university medical center. In clinical consultations at 6 weeks, 12 months, and 24 months posttreatment, patients were assessed for back and leg pain (on a visual analog scale), breached screws, and sagittal parameters. Results: A total of 136 pedicle screws were inserted with robot guidance into 32 patients. Four of the patients required laminectomy before fusion. No pedicle breach occurred for 94% of the screws, and no joint violation was observed for 90%. Lordosis was improved in 78% of the cases. Conclusions: The robot provides valuable assistance during MI arthrodesis; it facilitates the surgical procedure by preplanning the trajectory, providing instantaneous navigation and tracking, and thus assure the accuracy of screw positioning.

Key-words:

Degenerative - lumbar spine fusion - minimally invasive spine surgery - robot-assisted surgery - screw position - spinal instrumentation - spine disease - transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion

Full Text

References

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