The use of physical biomodelling in complex spinal surgery

Prior studies have suggested that biomodels enhance patient education, pre-operative planning and intra-operative stereotaxy, however the usefulness of biomodels compared to regular imaging modalities such as x-ray, CT and MR has not been quantified. (1) The aim of this study was to quantify surgeons’ perceptions on the usefulness of biomodels compared to standard visualisation modalities for pre-operative planning and intra-operative anatomical reference. Surgeons reported that the use of biomodels reduced operating times in 23 (89%) cases by a mean of 63 minutes per case (range 0–180mins) which included 8% (range 0-125mins) in tumour patients and 22% (range 30-180mins) in deformity procedures, and therefore surgical costs were often subsequently reduced despite the additional cost of the biomodel. In all cases, the surgeons reported the model had a positive effect on the outcome of the surgical procedure and that they would order a biomodel again should a similar case present. This study supports physical biomodelling as a useful, and sometimes essential tool in the armamentarium of imaging techniques used for complex spinal surgery.