A new study published in Spine examines a clinical trial for midcervical pedicle screw insertion using a new patient-specific intraoperative screw guiding device.
The researchers evaluated the screw guide template system for inserting midcervical pedicle screws. The bone image was taken on a preoperative CT scan to design the screw trajectories in a three-dimensional format. There were templates for each lamina, including the location, drill guide and screw guide templates.
The surgeons engaged the templates directly with the laminae during operations, and then performed drilling, tapping and screwing with each template. There were 80 midcervical pedicle screws placed for 20 patients.
The researchers found:
1. All templates fitted the laminae.
2. The screw navigation procedures were uneventful.
3. All screw insertions were accurate with the average deviation from the planned trajectory only 0.29±0.31 mm.
4. There weren't any neurovascular complications.
5. The templates fit and locked directly to the target laminae to prevent screwing errors along with spinal alignment changes during surgery.
"These advantages of the SGT system guarantee the high accuracy in screw insertion, which allowed surgeons to insert cervical pedicle screws safely," concluded the study authors.