Image-Based Navigation: Instrumentation

Image-based navigation guidance has improved instrumentation accuracy when surgically treating spinal pathologies including degenerative spinal disease, adult deformity, pediatric deformity, and spinal trauma. Navigation guidance has also been pivotal in safely expanding surgical indications for minimally invasive surgery, especially with the use of percutaneous spinal instrumentation. A variety of techniques exist for navigation-guided instrumentation, some of which involve selective use of navigated instruments and others that involve navigated instruments at each step of instrumentation for real-time assessment of screw trajectory. Regardless of preferred technique, there is a demonstrable learning curve for efficient and accurate instrumentation with navigation guidance.