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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Surg.

Sec. Orthopedic Surgery

Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fsurg.2025.1678914

This article is part of the Research TopicEndoscopy, Navigation, Robotics, Current Trends and Newer Technologies in the Management of Spinal Disorders. Towards a Paradigm Change in the Clinical Practice.View all articles

A comparison of short-term outcomes between robot-assisted percutaneous vertebroplasty and manual percutaneous vertebroplasty in the treatment of osteoporotic thoracolumbar vertebral compression fractures

Provisionally accepted
Hang  LinHang Lin1,2Kun  LiKun Li1,2Zhibin  ZhangZhibin Zhang1,2A  HA H1,2Tuerhongjiang  AbudurexitiTuerhongjiang Abudurexiti1,2*
  • 1Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, Ürümqi, China
  • 2Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

OBJECTIVE: The study aims to evaluate the clinical efficacy of robot-assisted versus manual percutaneous vertebroplasty in managing osteoporotic thoracolumbar vertebral compression fractures. METHODS: Based on the inclusion criteria, 111 patients who received unilateral percutaneous vertebroplasty(PVP) surgery at the Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University between September and December 2023 were retrospectively reviewed. These patients were categorized into two groups according to surgical technique: the robotic-assisted group (n=43) and the manual group (n=68). The study compared demographic and clinical parameters between the groups, including age, sex, Body Mass Index(BMI), medical history (hypertension, diabetes, respiratory diseases, endocrine disorders), affected spinal segments, Visual Analogue Scale(VAS) and Oswestry Disability Index(ODI) scores, vertebral height restoration, Cobb angle, operative duration, cement volume, cement leakage, intraoperative blood loss, postoperative hospital stay, and total hospitalization costs. Results: No statistically significant differences were observed between the robotic-assisted and manual groups regarding age, gender, BMI, affected vertebral segments, medical history, preoperative/postoperative VAS and ODI scores, vertebral height restoration, Cobb angle, cement volume, total hospitalization costs, blood loss, or postoperative hospital stay (P > 0.05). However, significant differences were found between the two groups in both operative time and cement leakage rates (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Manual percutaneous vertebroplasty demonstrates superior operative time compared to robot-assisted percutaneous vertebroplasty. However, the robotic approach offers the advantage of reduced cement leakage, which enhances procedural safety and decreases postoperative complications to some degree. Furthermore, as surgeons gain proficiency with the robotic system, operative time can be further reduced. This technology warrants continued refinement and represents a promising direction for future development.

Keywords: robot, Robot-assisted navigation, Percutaneous vertebroplasty, osteoporotic thoracolumbar vertebral compression fracture, Cement leakage

Received: 03 Aug 2025; Accepted: 30 Sep 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Lin, Li, Zhang, H and Abudurexiti. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Tuerhongjiang Abudurexiti, 848771685@qq.com

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