WHICH IMAGING METHOD IS MORE EFFECTIVE IN LATERAL MASS SCREW PLACEMENT: O-ARM COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY OR X-RAY?

Abstract

Objective: Although various surgical techniques have been described in the posterior cervical fixation, the lateral mass fixation method is the most preferred method. This study was conducted to examine the difference of imaging methods in order to detect and minimize important problems such as lateral mass fracture, vertebral artery foramen violation, and screw malposition intraoperatively during lateral mass fixation. Materials and Methods: Age, gender, etiological factors, intraoperative imaging method, number of fixed segments, and intraoperativepostoperative complications related to the surgical method of 41 patients were collected from the registered documents. Results: Lateral mass fixation was performed in 41 patients. Of the patients 29.3% (n=12) were female and 70.7% (n=29) were male. When the etiological factors were examined, the most common cause was cervical spinal stenosis (68.3%, n=28). The patients were evaluated in two groups (A, B). A total of 280 lateral mass screws were placed in the patients in both groups. One hundred and twenty-nine (46.1%) lateral mass screws were used in group A. One hundred and fifty-one (53.9%) lateral mass screws were performed to 22 (53.7%) patients in group B. Intraoperative screw revision rates were compared between the two groups using the chi-square test using SPSS 15.0 and no significant difference was found (p