COMPARISON OF AUTOMATICALLY AND MANUALLY OBTAINED PEDICLE SCREW PLANS IN DEFORMITIES OF THE THORACIC SPINE

SummaryOptimum position of pedicle screws can be determined preoperatively by CT based planning. We conducted a comparative study in order to analyse manually determined pedicle screw plans and those that were obtained automatically by a computer software and found an agreement in plans between both methods, yet an increase in fastening strengths was observed for automatically obtained plans.HypothesysAutomatic planning of pedicle screw positions and sizing is not inferior to manual planningDesignProspective comparative studyIntroductionPreoperative planning in spinal deformity surgery starts by a proper selection of implant anchors throughout the instrumented spine, where pedicle screws provide the optimum choice for bone fixation. In the case of severe spinal deformities, dysplastic pedicles can limit screw usage, and therefore studying the anatomy of vertebrae from preoperative images can aid in achieving the safest screw position through optimal fastening strength. The purpose of this study is to comp...