Computer-assisted navigation in complex cervical spine surgery: tips and tricks.

Stereotactic navigation is quickly establishing itself as the gold standard for accurate placement of spinal instrumentation and providing real-time anatomic referencing. There have been substantial improvements in computer-aided navigation over the last decade producing improved accuracy with intraoperative scanning while shortening registration time. The newest iterations of modeling software create robust maps of the anatomy while tracking software localizes instruments in multiple display modes. As a result, stereotactic navigation has become an effective adjunct to spine surgery, particularly improving instrumentation accuracy in the setting of atypical anatomy. This article provides an overview of stereotactic navigation applied to complex cervical spine surgery, details the means for registration and direct referencing, and shares our preferred methods to implement this promising technology.
Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: The series “Advanced Techniques in Complex Cervical Spine Surgery” was commissioned by the editorial office without any funding or sponsorship. ISA served as the unpaid Guest Editors of the series “Advanced Techniques in Complex Cervical Spine Surgery” published in Journal of Spine Surgery. The other authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
(2020 Journal of Spine Surgery. All rights reserved.)