Cortical Trajectory Screw Fixation in Lumbar Spine Surgery: A Review of the Existing Literature

Posterior lumbar fusion is a safe and effective surgical method for diseases, such as lumbar stenosis, spondylolisthesis, lumbar instability, spinal deformity, and tumor. Pedicle screw (PS) fixation was first introduced by Bouche and has been adopted as the gold standard for posterior lumbar fusion. Santoni and colleagues introduced a new methodological screw insertion technique that uses a cortical bone trajectory (CBT), described as that from a medial to lateral path in the transverse axial plane and caudal to the cephalad path in the sagittal plane through the pedicle for maximum contact of the screw with the cortical bone. Owing to the lower invasiveness, superior cortical bone contact, and reduced neurovascular injury incidence, the CBT technique has been widely used in posterior lumbar fusion; however, these advantages have not been proven in clinical/radiological and biomechanical studies. We designed the present study to review the existing evidence and evaluate the merit of CBT screw fixation. Six electronic databases were searched for relevant articles published in August 2020 using the search terms cortical bone trajectory, CBT spine, CBT fixation, cortical pedicle screws, and cortical screws. Studies were analyzed and divided into the following groups: biomechanics investigation, surgical technique, and clinical/radiological studies. Most studies compared CBT and PS fixation, and the CBT screw fixation method showed better or similar outcomes.

Automated summary

The cortical bone trajectory (CBT) technique in posterior lumbar fusion surgery offers lower invasiveness and superior cortical bone contact, and has been widely utilized. Existing studies indicate that compared to pedicle screw (PS) fixation, the CBT screw fixation method shows better or similar outcomes.