Comparison of the accuracy and safety of robot-and navigation-assisted screw placement in atlantoaxial dislocation surgery

Abstract

Objective: To compare the accuracy and safety of robot-assisted and navigation-assisted screw placement in atlantoaxial dislocation surgery. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data of 49 patients with atlantoaxial dislocation treated consecutively at the Honghui Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University from April 2022 to December 2023. Among them, 27 were male and 22 were female, aged (44.2±11.7) years. Based on the date of surgery, 29 patients (from April 2022 to April 2023) received the S8 navigation-assisted screw placement (navigation group), 20 patients (from May to December 2023) received Mazor robot-assisted screw placement (robot group). The accuracy of screw placement, screw placement time, operation time, intraoperative blood loss, and intraoperative complications were recorded and compared between the two groups. The Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) score and visual analog scale (VAS) score of pain were adopted to evaluate the recovery of cervical spinal cord function and cervical and shoulder pain at preoperative period and 3-month follow-up, and the occurrence of complications was observed. Results: A total of 196 screws were inserted in 49 patients. In the navigation-assisted group, a total of 116 screws were inserted with an accuracy rate of 93.1% (108/116); in contrast, in the robot-assisted group, a total of 80 screws were inserted with an accuracy rate of 97.5% (78/80) (P=0.040). The mean screw placement time, operation time, and blood loss in the navigation-assisted group were all significantly lower than those in the robot-assisted group [(37.8±3.4)min vs (48.4±4.6)min, (127.7±15.3)min vs (165.7±12.1)min and (205.8±13.6)ml vs (290.6±11.2) ml, respectively all P<0.01]. One case experienced intraoperative venous plexus injury in the robot-assisted group. Postoperatively, all patients experienced significant relief in neck pain symptoms, and neurological symptoms recovered to varying degrees. The VAS and JOA scores at 3 months post-surgery for both groups showed statistically significant improvements compared to pre-surgery (all P<0.01), but there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups (all P>0.05). Conclusions: Both robot-assisted and navigation-assisted screw placement show high accuracy and safety in atlantoaxial dislocation surgery. Compared to navigation, robot assistance increases the surgical time and blood loss, but significantly improves the accuracy of screw placement.