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Updated: Jul 29, 2025
Cone Beam Intraoperative Computed Tomography-based Image Guidance for Minimally Invasive Transforaminal Interbody Fusion
Published on: August 6, 2019
Angulation error assessment for the trajectory in the anteroposterior and lateral fluoroscopic views during
Xin Huang1, Xiangyu Hou2, Shuiqing Li3
1Pain Medicine Center, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China.
Background:
Anteroposterior (AP) and lateral fluoroscopies are often used to evaluate the intraoperative location and angulation of the trajectory in percutaneous endoscopic transforaminal lumbar discectomy (PETLD). Although the location of the trajectory shown in fluoroscopy is absolutely accurate, the angulation is not always reliable. This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of the angle shown in the AP and lateral fluoroscopic views.
Methods:
A technical study was performed to assess the angulation errors of PETLD trajectories shown in AP and lateral fluoroscopic views. After reconstructing a lumbar CT image, a virtual trajectory was placed into the intervertebral foramen with gradient-changing coronal angulations of the cephalad angle plane (CACAP). For each angulation, virtual AP and lateral fluoroscopies were taken, and the cephalad angles (CA) of the trajectory shown in the AP and lateral fluoroscopic views, which indicated the coronal CA and the sagittal CA, respectively, were measured. The angular relationships among the real CA, CACAP, coronal CA, and sagittal CA were further demonstrated with formulae.
Results:
In PETLD, the coronal CA is approximately equal to the real CA, with a small angle difference and percentage error, whereas the sagittal CA shows a rather large angle difference and percentage error.
Conclusion:
The AP view is more reliable than the lateral view in determining the CA of the PETLD trajectory.
