Robot-assisted unilateral and manual unilateral/bilateral puncture kyphoplasty for the treatment of osteoporotic thoracolumbar fracture: a comparison of therapeutic effects / 中华创伤杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To compare the efficacies of robot-assisted unilateral and manual unilateral/bilateral puncture kyphoplasty (PKP) for the treatment of osteoporotic thoracolumbar fracture (OTLF).Methods:A retrospective cohort study was conducted to analyze the clinical data of 64 OTLF patients admitted to First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University from April 2021 to May 2022. The patients included 28 males and 36 females, aged 57-88 years [(74.5±5.6)years]. Fracture segments were 12 patients from T 1-T 9, 32 from T 10-L 2, and 20 from L 3-L 5. All the patients were treated with PKP. Among them, 25 patients underwent manual unilateral puncture (manual unilateral group), 18 patients underwent manual bilateral puncture (manual bilateral group), and 21 patients underwent robot-assisted unilateral puncture (robot-assisted unilateral group). The operation time, channel establishment time, intraoperative blood loss, intraoperative fluoroscopy times, bone cement injection volume, and bone cement spatial distribution score were compared among the three groups. The visual analogue score (VAS), Oswestry disability index (ODI) and Cobb angle of kyphosis were compared among the three groups before operation, at 3 days and 3 months after operation, and at the last follow-up. The incidence of complications was compared. Results:All the patients were followed up for 6-10 months [(7.0±0.9)months]. The operation time of the manual unilateral group was (30.2±6.1)minutes, which was shorter than (37.9±8.9)minutes of the robot-assisted unilateral group and (49.0±10.2)minutes of the manual bilateral group; the operation time of the robot-assisted unilateral group was markedly shorter than that of the manual bilateral group (all P<0.05). The channel establishment time of the robot-assisted unilateral group was (4.7±1.4)minutes, which was markedly shorter than (10.4±4.4)minutes of the manual unilateral group and (21.7±6.2)minutes of the manual bilateral group (all P<0.05). The intraoperative blood loss of the robot-assisted unilateral group was (23.8±7.2)ml, which was less than (34.3±7.7)ml of the manual unilateral group and (55.9±18.7)ml of the manual bilateral group (all P<0.05). The number of intraoperative fluoroscopy of the robot-assisted unilateral group was (12.1±2.5)times, which was markedly less than (21.2±5.9)times of the manual unilateral group and (39.6±9.5)times of the manual bilateral group (all P<0.05). The channel establishment time, intraoperative blood loss and intraoperative fluoroscopy times of the manual unilateral group were markedly shorter or less than those of the manual bilateral group (all P<0.05). The bone cement injection volume and bone cement distribution score of the robot-assisted unilateral group were (4.7±1.3)ml and (7.9±1.2)points, which were not statistically different from (5.7±1.3)ml and (8.7±1.1)points of the manual bilateral group (all P>0.05), but were markedly higher than (3.0±1.3)ml and (5.1±1.8)points of the manual unilateral group (all P<0.05). There were no significant differences in VAS, ODI and Cobb angle among the three groups at 3 days, 3 months after operation and at the last follow-up (all P>0.05), but which were all lower than those before surgery (all P<0.05). There were no significant differences in VAS, ODI and Cobb angle among three groups before operation, at 3 days, 3 months after surgery and at the last follow-up (all P>0.05). The complication rate was 4.8% (1/21) of the robot-assisted unilateral group, 32.0% (8/25) of the manual unilateral group, and 33.3% (6/18) of the manual bilateral group, with no significant difference between the manual unilateral group and the manual bilateral group ( P>0.05), but both of which was markedly higher than that of the robot-assisted unilateral group ( P<0.05). Conclusion:Robot-assisted unilateral puncture and manual unilateral/bilateral puncture PKP can both achieve satisfactory results for the treatment of OTLF, but robot-assisted unilateral puncture has shorter channel establishment time, less intraoperative blood loss and intraoperative fluoroscopy times, and lower complication rate.