Diagnostic imaging review of postoperative complications after spinal surgery and instrumentation

Abstract

A variety of surgical approaches are available for the treatment of spine diseases. Complications can arise intraoperatively, in the immediate postoperative period, or in a delayed fashion. These complications may lead to severe or even permanent morbidity if left unrecognized and untreated. Postoperative complications such as incomplete fusion, hardware failure, suboptimal positioning of instrumentation, infection, hematoma, and others may be detected at imaging. The article reviews the potential complications of spinal instrumentation, beginning with a description of biomechanics and an overview of surgical approaches and continuing with a discussion of various types of complications and their appropriate radiologic assessment. This systematic review describes the imaging features of immediate and delayed complications including instrumentation malpositioning.