A new study published in Spine examines robotic guided minimally invasive spine surgery compared to fluoroscopy guided open lumbar fusion procedures.
The study examined patients who either underwent one or two level fusions. The patients were randomized into the robotic-guided MIS group or the fluoroscopic-guided open surgery group. There were 130 pedicle screws placed with robotic guidance compared with 140 screws in the fluoroscopy group. The researchers found:
1. The fluoroscopic guidance took 3.5 seconds in the robotic-guided MIS procedures, compared with 13.3 seconds among the open procedure group.
2. For the robotic-guided MIS spine surgery, C-arm output was 0.13 mSv, compared with 0.27 in the open surgical group. The average per-screw radiation for patients who underwent robotic-guided surgery was 37.5 percent of the patients in the open surgical group, showing 62.5 percent reduction in radiation on average.
3. The patients in both groups reported similar visual analog scale scores for the back and leg and there wasn't a significant difference between the groups in Oswestry Disability Index scores.
4. All the screws placed with robotic guidance were accurate; in the open surgical group, two screws breached.
5. In the robotic guidance group, the average distance from the proximal facets was 5.8 mm; in the open group the average distance was 4.6 mm.
6. Patients in the robotic group reported staying in the hospital 6.8 days on average, compared to 9.4 days in the open surgical group.