OBJECTIVE Our study aims to evaluate the clinical outcomes of cortical screws in regards to postoperative pain. BACKGROUND Pedicle screw fixation is the current mainstay technique for posterior spinal fusion. Over the past decade, a new technique called cortical screw fixation has been developed, which allows for medialized screw placement through stronger cortical bone. There have been sever...

STUDY DESIGN Cadaveric study. PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to assess the accuracy and feasibility of cervical pedicle screw (CPS) insertion into the subaxial cervical spine placed using a patient-specific drill guide template constructed from a stereolithographic model. OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE CPS fixation is an invaluable tool for posterior cervical fixation because of its biomecha...

OBJECTIVE To introduce a robot-assisted surgical system for spinal posterior fixation that can automatically recognize the drilling state and stop potential cortical penetration with force and image information and to further evaluate the accuracy and safety of the robot for sheep vertebra pedicle screw placement. METHODS The Robotic Spinal Surgery System (RSSS) was composed of an optical tra...

STUDY DESIGN This study is a systematic review of published biomechanical studies involving pedicle screw-based posterior dynamic stabilization devices (PDS) with a special focus on kinematics and load transmission through the functional spine unit (FSU). METHODS A literature search was performed via the PubMed online database from 1990 to 2008 using the following key words: "biomechanics," "...

Correspondence: Richard Rhiew Department of Neurosurgery, 39 Wood St., Mansfi eld, OH 44906, USA Tel +1 419 522 2472 Fax +1 419 774 1300 Email [email protected] Abstract: Transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) is a widely used method of surgical treatment for a variety of lumbar spinal disorders. Bilateral transpedicular instrumentation is routinely used in conjunction with an interb...