Vertebral fixation consists in the placement of screws in the vertebrae to fix them, either at cervical, dorsal or lumbar level. This surgery can count on GPS navigation, which allows these implants to be performed with a high success rate (97.6%).
Why is it performed?
Vertebral fixation by navigator avoids the risks of classic procedures, such as nerve lesions, and makes second interventions unnecessary due to poor screw positioning.
What does it consist of?
To perform this surgery we use a computer and optical cameras which, by introducing images from a preoperative CT scan and X-rays taken in the actual surgical position of the patient, make it possible to merge them and convert them into real-virtual 3D images.
Through special instruments, we can visualize the trajectory of the screws live.
In addition to navigation, in this type of surgery we also monitor the nerves that are related to the vertebral segment being operated on and, through a computer, we obtain the electrical record of the muscles innervated by these nerves.
In the event of a possible irritation or damage to the nerve, the computer warns us by means of a discharge of abnormal waves and an acoustic signal, which allows us to rectify the trajectory of a screw, thus avoiding injuries.