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Long-term biocompatibility of posterior instrumentation systems in thoraco-lumbar spine surgery

B. COSTACHESCU1,2, A. CHIRIAC1,2,* , B. F. ILIESCU2, C. POPESCU2, L. PENDEFUNDA1,2

Affiliation

  1. “Gr. T. Popa” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Romania
  2. “Prof. Dr. N. Oblu” Clinical Emergency Hospital, Romania

Abstract

The spine consists of a complex bony and ligament structures designed to ensure a strong support for the body and for the back muscles but also to allow various degrees of motion. When bony tissue damage occurs (most often as a result of trauma) the resulting instability represents the main drawback in tissue and neurologic healing and recovery. Fixation of the unstable spine structures is required to insure the structural integrity and to create the proper mechanical environment for functional healing. Metallic implants are routinely used nowadays and are known to achieve good functional results. However, the long-term biocompatibility is not yet completely studied in terms of bone changes around the implant fixation screws. Here, we analyzed the imagistic bone transformation around the pedicle screws of posterior thoracic spine implants for two different commercial systems. The computed tomography images of five patients were studied in terms of osteodensitometry. Three of them had titanium alloy implants (Ti6Al4V), while the other two received hard-titanium alloy (Ti6Al7Nb) implants. The implant screw performance was monitored and the results are discussed..

Keywords

Biomaterials, Implantology, Osteodensitometry, In vivo results.

Citation

B. COSTACHESCU, A. CHIRIAC, B. F. ILIESCU, C. POPESCU, L. PENDEFUNDA, Long-term biocompatibility of posterior instrumentation systems in thoraco-lumbar spine surgery, Optoelectronics and Advanced Materials - Rapid Communications, 8, 11-12, November-December 2014, pp.1229-1233 (2014).

Submitted at: Sept. 1, 2014

Accepted at: Nov. 13, 2014