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 Society2026
Effect of robotic-assisted percutaneous pedicle screw internal fixation for thoracolumbar fractures: a randomized, controlled clinical trial.
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, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The evidence landscape, clinical role, and mechanisms of action of robot-assisted injury treatment: a systematic review.Journal of robotic surgery · 2026Pooled it
- Surgical outcomes of percutaneous pedicle screw fixation for unstable traumatic thoracolumbar fractures: a meta-analysis focused on randomized controlled trials from the past 15 years.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2026Pooled it
- Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
purposeRobotic-assisted techniques have been applied to orthopaedic diseases, improving the accuracy of internal fixation placement and the outcome of surgery. However, the clinical effect of robotic-assisted percutaneous pedicle screw internal fixation in treating thoracolumbar fractures has not been fully validated.
methodsA total of 49 patients who were diagnosed with thoracolumbar fractures and underwent percutaneous pedicle screw internal fixation were recruited and randomly allocated to a freehand fluoroscopy-guided surgery group (FF, n = 24) or a robotic-assisted navigation and automated pedicle screw internal fixation placement group (RA, n = 25). The outcome assessments included screw placement accuracy measured by the Gertzbein–Robbins system (GRS), operative time, intraoperative blood loss, frequency of intraoperative fluoroscopy, length of stay, medical treatment cost, Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) score, visual analog scale (VAS) score and incidence of complications.
resultsA total of 154 pedicle screws were implanted in the RA group, and a total of 146 pedicle screws were implanted in the FF group. No statistically significant differences in the accuracy rates of screw placement (GRS grade A + B, 96.1% vs. 96.5%, p = 0.828), operative time (146.9 ± 24.8 min vs. 151.1 ± 34.3 min, p = 0.784), intraoperative blood loss (46.7 ± 24.0 ml vs. 38.3 ± 18.3 ml, p = 0.689), length of stay (6.4 ± 3.2 days vs. 7.0 ± 2.9 days, p = 0.810), medical treatment cost (31,054 ± 2751 yuan vs. 30,053 ± 3265 yuan, p = 0.937), VAS score (Day 7 after operation: 2.6 ± 0.9 vs. 2.9 ± 1.7, p = 0.876; Six months after operation: 0.48 ± 0.82 vs. 0.41 ± 0.65, p = 0.275), or ODI score improvement (Day 7 after operation: 43.8 ± 21.4 vs. 47.0 ± 20.5, p = 0.801; Six months after operation: 10.1 ± 6.08 vs. 9.41 ± 5.91, p = 0.895) were detected between the RA group and the FF group. However, the RA group had a significantly lower frequency of intraoperative fluoroscopy (5.2 ± 1.0 vs. 37.0 ± 4.8, p < 0.001) than did the FF group. No screw-related complications occurred in either group immediately after the surgery or at the six-month follow-up visit.
conclusionsRobotic-assisted percutaneous pedicle screw internal fixation can be used as a safe and effective treatment for thoracolumbar fractures, especially for reducing intraoperative radiation exposure.
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Registered trials
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