Effects of Hybrid surgery on load transfer pattern of cervical spine / 医用生物力学

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the pattern of load transfer in cervical spine treated with Hybrid surgery using total disc replacement (TDR) and spinal fusion, so as to deepen the understanding of Hybrid surgery from the biomechanical view. Methods A finite element model of cervical spine C3-7 (INTACT model) was built to simulate three types of fusion surgeries at C4-6 degenerative segments upper TDR combined with lower bone graft fusion (TDR45 model), upper fusion combined with lower TDR (TDR56 model), two-level fusion (Fusion456 model). Results In all surgical models, mobility of the fused levels was almost lost, while mobility of the TDR levels increased. Under the axial load of 160 N, the entire cervical motion was less than 4° in the INTACT model, while the motion in the TDR45 model and TDR56 model increased to 8.2° and 8.9°, respectively. In the TDR56 model, the force transferred through the C5 vertebra decreased by 20%, while the force transferred through the facet joint force was 3.8 times larger than that of the INTACT model. The facet contact force in the TDR45 model increased by 50%. The maximal stress in the INTACT model was 0.8 MPa, while the facet contact force in the TDR45 model and TDR56 model were almost 2 times as that in the INTACT model. Conclusions Due to the increased mobility at the TDR levels, the cervical curvature after Hybrid surgery changes greatly under the axial load. The alteration of spinal alignment will result in a decrease in anterior vertebral section force at the operative level, as well as an increase in facet joint force and facet cartilage stress.