Robotic-Guided Surgery Study

The Foundation was part of this multi-center study, including contributions from 11 researchers, that compared two different methods of performing spinal fusion: one with robotic guidance and one without. The robotic system operates by pre-planning an entire spinal procedure based on a pre-surgical CT scan of the patient’s spine. With fluoroscopic-assisted surgery, a surgeon uses a live x-ray to visualize the spine. While both the robotic and the fluoroscopic methods are minimally invasive, the robotic method involves much less radiation exposure to the patient and the operating room staff during the surgical procedure.

From a pool of 485 patients – 374 robotic-guided patients and 111 fluoroscopic patients – researchers identified several benefits of the robotic-guided system over the fluoroscopic approach. Robotic-guidance led to fewer surgical complications, a lower likelihood of revision surgery, and a reduction in exposure to radiation throughout the procedure. Robotic surgical assistance thus shows great promise in reducing surgical risks for patients, and potential postoperative benefits.

Source: Good C, Orosz L, Schroerlucke S, et al. Complications and Revision Rates in Minimally Invasive Robotic-Guided Versus Fluoroscopic-Guided Spinal Fusions: The MIS ReFRESH Prospective Comparative Study.” Spine. 2021; 46(23), 1661-1668. doi: 10.1097/BRS.0000000000004048