In plain language
In 24 patients with ankylosing spinal disorders having percutaneous pedicle screw fixation in Japan, O-arm navigation used far less fluoroscopy time than C-arm (2.5 vs 16.9 minutes) with similar screw accuracy. Staff dose itself was not measured.
At a glance
- Type of study
- Original research, Retrospective cohort study
- Who was studied
- Patients, Orthopedic surgeons
- Size
- n = 24 patients
- Where
- Japan
- Summary based on
- the full text
What it found
Fluoroscopy time, used as a surrogate for radiation exposure, was much shorter with O-arm navigation than with C-arm fluoroscopy.
Key figures: 2.5±1.8 vs. 16.9±11.4 min; P<0.001
Pedicle screw placement accuracy was similar between the O-arm and C-arm groups.
Key figures: 88.3% vs. 87.3%; P>0.99
Surgical staff left the operating room during O-arm image acquisition, and screws were then placed under navigation without radiation exposure.
Operative time, blood loss and complication rates did not differ significantly between groups.
Group allocation was confounded by timing: after-hours emergency cases were mostly done with C-arm.
Key figures: 7 (53.8) vs. 1 (9.1); P=0.03
Limits to keep in mind
Small single-center retrospective study (24 patients) with non-random allocation by time of day. Fluoroscopy time was a surrogate; no actual staff dose or dosimeter data were collected.
Related research summaries
- Radiation exposure during direct versus indirect image acquisition during fluoroscopy-controlled internal fixation of a hip fracture: Results of a randomized controlled trial (2019, Randomized trial)
- Comparative Prospective Study Reporting Intraoperative Parameters, Pedicle Screw Perforation, and Radiation Exposure in Navigation-Guided versus Non-navigated Fluoroscopy-Assisted Minimal Invasive Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion (2018, Prospective cohort study)
- Intra-operative fluoroscopy time and radiation dose during suprapatellar tibial nailing versus infrapatellar tibial nailing (2018, Retrospective cohort study)
- Defining reference levels for intra-operative radiation exposure in orthopaedic trauma: A retrospective multicentre study (2015, Retrospective cohort study)
- Radiation Protection and Standardization (2019, Narrative review)
How this summary was made
ORSIF prepared this summary with AI assistance from the full text of the paper. A program then checked that the passage supporting each finding appears word for word in that source. A person has not yet reviewed each summary, so read the original before relying on a number. ORSIF summarizes research and does not endorse any product or company. Report a problem with this summary.
Prepared November 3, 2026.