Plain Radiograph Assessment of Spinal Hardware

Vicnays Venu; Alexandra Talia Vertinsky; David Malfair; Jason B Chew; Jason Shewchuk; Manraj K.S. Heran; Douglas A Graeb; John T Street

doi:10.1055/s-0031-1275598

Seminars in Musculoskeletal Radiology, Table of Contents

Semin Musculoskelet Radiol 2011; 15(2): 151-162
DOI: 10.1055/s-0031-1275598

Plain Radiograph Assessment of Spinal Hardware

Vicnays Venu¹ ^, ³ , Alexandra Talia Vertinsky¹ ^, ³ , David Malfair⁴ , Jason B. Chew¹ ^, ³ , Jason Shewchuk¹ ^, ³ , Manraj K.S. Heran¹ ^, ³ , Douglas A. Graeb¹ ^, ³ , John T. Street²

¹Division of Neuroradiology, Vancouver General Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
²Division of Spine Surgery, Vancouver General Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
³University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
⁴Department of Radiology, Central Alberta Medical Imaging Services, Red Deer, Alberta, Canada

Abstract

ABSTRACT

The frequency and variety of spinal instrumentation has increased tremendously over the past 100 years, and imaging plays an important role in evaluating the postoperative spine. Although assessment of spinal hardware often involves a multimodality approach, plain radiographs are the most commonly used modality, given accessibility, cost, relatively low radiation dose compared with computed tomography, and provision of positional information. An approach to assessment of plain radiographs of the postoperative spine is discussed, and examples of common postoperative complications are provided, including infection, hardware failure, incomplete fusion, and junctional failure.

KEYWORDS

Radiographs - spine surgery - complications - radiology

Full Text

References

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Alexandra Talia VertinskyM.D.

Division of Neuroradiology, Vancouver General Hospital

855 West 12th Ave., Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9 Canada

Email: tvertinsky@gmail.com