Comparison of the O-arm and C-arm guided pedicle screws placement

Background Transpedicular screw placement remains the gold standard technique for destabilization of the lumbar spine. Material and methods This is a retrospective study that analyzes patients that underwent the spinal stabilization surgical procedure. We compared results from two independent neurosurgical centers. At the turn of years 2012-2015, O-arm and StealthStation neuronavigation system was used for implantation of transpedicular screws. In 2018 to 2020 transcutaneous pedicle screw placement procedure was performed using standard C-arm device. Results In 208 procedures performed with the O-arm device, the accuracy of the positioning of the screws was 98.08 %. Screw repositioning was necessary in 1.92 % of all cases. In 30 procedures that were performed using the C-arm, the accuracy of the screws was 86.7% and the screw reposition procedure accounted for 10% (in one case crews were not replaced due to clinical sequelae). Conclusions Our data show that the spinal fusion with the O-arm tool has more accuracy, thus might be more indicated in procedures that require minimally invasive spinal stabilization.