Objective: This study aimed to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to compare the clinical results and complications of robot-assisted (RA) versus fluoroscopy-assisted (FA) percutaneous vertebral augmentation (PVA) in the treatment of osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures (OVCFs).
Methods: A comprehensive search of online databases including PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, web of science, and core journals of China National Knowledge Infrastructure were performed to identify related studies reporting the clinical results and complications of RA versus FA-assisted PVA in the treatment of OVCFs. The rate of bone cement leakage was used to assess the complications. After the surgery, the clinical findings were analyzed using the Visual Analog Scale scores and the Oswestry Disability Index scores. The surgical time, intraoperative fluoroscopy frequency, and x-ray exposure duration were used to evaluate the perioperative results. Forest plots were constructed to investigate the results.
Results: RA-PVA had a significantly lower bone cement leakage rate, shorter fluoroscopy frequency, and shorter radiation exposure time of doctors compared with FA-PVA. However, no significant differences were found between RA-PVA and FA-PVA in operative time and radiation exposure time of patients. Furthermore, no statistically differences were found between the 2 groups in Visual Analog Scale and Oswestry Disability Index scores after surgery.
Conclusions: This meta-analysis showed that RA-PVA can reduce bone cement leakage rate, fluoroscopy frequency, and doctors' radiation exposure time. With the advancement of RA technology, we anticipate more high-quality randomized controlled trials of RA versus FA-PVA in the future to validate and update the results of this analysis.
Keywords: Kyphoplasty; Meta-analysis; Osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures; Robot-assisted; Systematic review; Vertebroplasty.
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