Journal of Craniovertebral Junction and Spine (Jan 2024)

An institutional study on accuracy of freehand cervical C1 C2 screws placement by knock and drill technique in craniovertebral anomalous bony anatomy: An evaluation of more than 600 screws based on SGPGI screw accuracy criteria

  • Sudhir Bisan Sasapardhi,
  • Pawan Kumar Verma,
  • Arun Kumar Srivastava,
  • Kuntal Kanti Das,
  • Ashutosh Kumar,
  • Priyadarshi Dikshit,
  • Ved Prakash Maurya,
  • Kamlesh Singh Bhaisora,
  • Anant Mehrotra,
  • Awadhesh Kumar Jaiswal,
  • Prabhaker Mishra,
  • Sanjay Behari,
  • Raj Kumar,
  • Harshit Mishra,
  • Kalyani Shahare

DOI
https://doi.org/10.4103/jcvjs.jcvjs_116_23
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 15, no. 1
pp. 83 – 91

Abstract

Read online

Purpose: To assess the accuracy of freehand cervical C1 C2 screws placement by knock and drill (K and D) technique in craniovertebral anomalous bony anatomy. Materials and Methods: From January 2017 to December 2022, 682 consecutive C1 C2 screws in 215 patients with craniovertebral junction (CVJ) anomalies were enrolled. All patients underwent posterior fixation with K and D technique without any fluoroscopic guidance. The patient's demographic details, clinical details, radiological details, major intraoperative events, and postoperative complications were noted. The screws malposition grades and direction on CT images in the axial and sagittal plane were defined as new per proposed “SGPGI accuracy criteria.” All patients had a clinical evaluation at 3-month follow-up. Results: Total 682 C1, C2 screws were placed in 215 patients for CVJ anomalies using K and D technique. The accuracy of screws placement by freehand technique was 84.46% (576/682). So with technique explained the rate of malplacement in simple (16.35%) and complex (15.19%) groups were almost comparable and comparison difference was not significant (P = 0.7005). Conclusion: The freehand technique, as described, is effective in cases of anomalous bony anatomy, and it is mandatory in complex CVJ anomalies. The accuracy of screw placement and VA injury is comparable with major studies. This technique is supposedly cost-effective and less hazardous to both health-care workers and patients.

Keywords