Intraoperative Navigation Is Associated with Reduced Blood Loss During C1-C2 Posterior Cervical Fixation

Traumatic injuries, degenerative/rheumatologic conditions, tumors, or infections of the upper cervical spine may in certain circumstances require surgical stabilization. C1 lateral mass screws (Harms technique) in combination with C2 instrumentation (pars, pedicle, translaminar screws) have become a mainstay of surgical treatment. The surgical anatomy of the C1 lateral mass can be challenging especially with the robust venous plexus that often causes significant bleeding with exposure of the C1-C2 articular complex. The purpose of this study was to examine whether the use of navigation reduced intraoperative blood loss during atlantoaxial fixation.

We reviewed our institutional experience with atlantoaxial instrumentation with and without navigation from 2007 to 2016. We limited our cases to those requiring C1-C2 stabilization in traumatic and degenerative cases and not as part of more extensive surgical stabilizations. We identified 45 consecutive patients and compared intraoperative blood loss, need for transfusion, and time of procedure with and without the use of navigation.

There was a significant reduction in the amount of intraoperative blood loss in the navigated (n = 20) versus non-navigated cases (n = 25). In addition, although the navigated cases initially were longer, currently there is no significant difference in the length of the cases.

In our series, surgical navigation significantly reduced blood loss compared with non-navigated cases without increasing surgical time or risk of complication. Furthermore, navigation has the potential to reduce operative times due to a reduction in blood loss.