Robotics for Revision Spine Surgery

Revision spine surgery can often be very challenging-with altered anatomic landmarks, the presence of a fusion mass, and surrounding scar tissue, the risk for complications is inevitably elevated. Pedicle screw placement is especially difficult, requiring fine movements and precise trajectories-this becomes even more difficult in revision cases when using conventional techniques that rely on anatomic landmarks. As such, several solutions have been proposed, including the use of robotic assistance. Although robotics has been routinely used in other surgical fields, their use in spine surgery is only now being explored. Given the challenges with visualization and anatomic referencing, robotic assistance is particularly well suited for revision spine surgery.