Comparison the effect of Navigated and Non-Navigated on vertebral body screw placement in anterior approach surgery for treatment of thoracolumbar burst fractures: a randomized controlled trial.

Abstract Objectives To evaluate the effect on vertebral body screw placement of navigation technique in anterior approach surgery for treatment of thoracolumbar burst fractures and discuss its impact on the long-term prognosis of patients. Methods A prospective study was conducted on patients undergoing anterior approach thoracolumbar surgery from May 2018 to August 2019. The 40 patients were randomly divided into Navigation group (NG) and Control group (CG). In the NG, vertebral body screw placement was performed under 2D navigation technique; in the CG, no navigation was utilized. Clinical and radiological evaluations of the two groups were compared preoperatively, immediately after surgery and final follow-up. The paired t-tests and Chi-square test were used to evaluate clinical and radiological indicators. Results There was no difference in hospital stay, operation time, autologous blood recovery, postoperative drainage volume, Cobb Angle of the preoperative coronal plane, sagittal plane, postoperative sagittal plane, Cobb Angle of coronal plane and sagittal plane before and after surgery measurements on X-ray and Computed Tomography (CT) images between the two groups (P>0.05). The correction of kyphosis deformity of fracture segment was better in both groups (P Conclusion Navigation technology can improve the accuracy of screw placement in anterior approach surgery for treatment of thoracolumbar burst fractures and improve the long-term prognosis.