• Ke Wang, Zeng-Jie Zhang, Jiao-Xiang Chen, Ai-Min Wu, Xiang-Yang Wang, and Sun-Ren Sheng.
• Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children's Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China.
• World Neurosurg. 2019 May 1; 125: e348-e352.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the safety and accuracy of use of a 3-dimensional printed navigation template in the placement of a cortical bone trajectory (CBT) screw in the middle-upper thoracic spine.MethodsTen human cadavers were included in the study. Sixty CBT screws were placed on 1 side, using the free-hand technique, and 60 CBT screws were placed on the other side, using the navigation template that was designed and printed using data from 10 cadavers. The safety and accuracy of use of the CBT screws were directly evaluated by radiography and computed tomography.ResultsComputed tomography revealed that 2 and 3 of 60 screws, placed using the navigation template, were broken in the medial or lateral areas and in the superior or inferior pedicle wall, respectively. Furthermore, 8 screws were broken in the medial or lateral areas and 11 screws were broken in the superior or inferior pedicle wall when the free-hand technique was used. Radiography revealed that 3 screws in zone I, 55 screws in zone II, and 2 screws in zone III were placed using the navigation template. Furthermore, 7 screws in zone I, 45 screws in zone II, and 8 screws in zone III were placed using the free-hand technique.ConclusionsIn this cadaver study, insertion of the CBT screws in the middle-upper thoracic spine with the assistance of the navigation template was safe and convenient.Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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