Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37737497›Full record

Trial reportEuropean spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society2024

Clinical and radiological results of TLIF surgery with titanium-coated PEEK or uncoated PEEK cages: a prospective single-centre randomised study.

P Vanek, N Svoboda, O Bradac, J Malik, R Kaiser, D Netuka

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
1.9field-weighted citation impact, top 14% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Optimal cage biomaterials for fusion and subsidence outcomes in lumbar spinal fusion: a network meta-analysis of 4881 patients.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2026
    Review
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

P VanekDepartment of Neurosurgery and Neurooncology, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague and Military University Hospital Prague, U Vojenskénemocnice 1200/2, 16000, Prague 6, Czech Republic.
N SvobodaDepartment of Neurosurgery and Neurooncology, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague and Military University Hospital Prague, U Vojenskénemocnice 1200/2, 16000, Prague 6, Czech Republic. svoboda.norbert@gmail.com.ORCID 0000-0001-7689-4862
O BradacDepartment of Neurosurgery and Neurooncology, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague and Military University Hospital Prague, U Vojenskénemocnice 1200/2, 16000, Prague 6, Czech Republic.
J MalikDepartment of Neurosurgery and Neurooncology, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague and Military University Hospital Prague, U Vojenskénemocnice 1200/2, 16000, Prague 6, Czech Republic.
R KaiserDepartment of Neurosurgery and Neurooncology, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague and Military University Hospital Prague, U Vojenskénemocnice 1200/2, 16000, Prague 6, Czech Republic.
D NetukaDepartment of Neurosurgery and Neurooncology, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague and Military University Hospital Prague, U Vojenskénemocnice 1200/2, 16000, Prague 6, Czech Republic.
Charles University · CZ

Funding

Ministerstvo Obrany České Republiky MO 1012
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundA comparison of fusion rates and clinical outcomes of instrumented transforaminal interbody fusion (TLIF) between polyetheretherketone (PEEK) and titanium-coated PEEK (Ti-PEEK) cages is not well documented.

methodsA single-centre, prospective, randomised study included patients who underwent one-level TLIF between L3-S1 segments. Patients were randomised into one of two groups: TLIF surgery with the PEEK cage and TLIF surgery with the Ti-PEEK cage. Clinical results were measured. All patients were assessed by repeated X-rays and 3D CT scans. Cage integration was assessed using a modified Bridwell classification. The impact of obesity and smoking on fusion quality was also analysed. Patients in both groups were followed up for 2 years.

resultsAltogether 87 patients were included in the study: of these 87 patients, 81 (93.1%) completed the 2-year follow-up. A significant improvement in clinical outcome was found in the two measurements scales in both groups (RM: p = 0.257, VAS: p = 0.229). There was an increase in CobbS and CobbL angle in both groups (p = 0.172 for CobbS and p = 0.403for CobbL). Bony fusion was achieved in 37 of 40 (92.5%) patients in the TiPEEK group and 35 of 41 (85.4%) in the PEEK group (p = 0.157). Cage subsided in 2 of 40 patients (5%) in the TiPEEK group and 11 of 41 (26.8%) in the PEEK group (p = 0.007). Body mass index > 30 and smoking were not predictive factors of bony fusion achievement.

conclusionThere is no significant advantage of TiPEEK cages over PEEK cages in clinical outcome and fusion rate 2 years after surgery.

Indexed as

BenzophenonesPolymersSpinal FusionTitaniumHumansKetonesLumbar VertebraePolyethylene GlycolsProspective StudiesTreatment OutcomeBenzophenonesKetonespolyetheretherketonePolyethylene GlycolsPolymersTitaniumLow back painOutcome measurementsSpinal fusionSpineSpondylolysis

Identifiers

PMID37737497
OpenAlexW4386944444

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.