BIOTECHNOLOGIES AND BIOMATERIALS IN SPINE SURGERY

Over the past few decades, spine disorders have become a major health concern and the number of spinal surgical procedures has been rising significantly. Several biotechnologies and biomaterials are often used in spine surgery to increase the effectiveness of the treatment. In the degenerative spine, when conservative treatment is ineffective the most recommended surgical procedure is decompression followed by spinal fusion. Success rates of spine fusion extensively rely on bone grafts peculiar properties. Autograft has been considered the gold standard to achieve a solid fusion but current research is focused on the development of new biomaterials. Osteoporosis is the main cause of vertebral compression fractures that are significantly associated with pain and disability, especially in the aging population. Vertebral augmentation is a minimally invasive approach in which cement is injected into the vertebral body to stabilize the fracture. New cements are being developed in the clinical scenario with reabsorbable properties and biomechanical features more similar to the native bone. The development of disc regeneration strategies such as nucleus pulposus restoration and annulus fibrosus repair may represent a minimally invasive procedure towards regeneration rather than fusion. Therefore, biomaterials and tissue engineering are fields of growing interest among both surgeons and manufacturing companies, with a major involvement in spine surgery. This review discusses current and novel biotechnologies and biomaterial used in spine surgery employing fusion, augmentation and regeneration.