Objective: Preoperative planning in spine surgery is a fundamental step of the surgical workup and is often assisted by direct visualization of anatomical 2-dimensional images. This process is time-consuming and may excessively approximate the 3-dimensional (3D) nature of spinal anatomy. Virtual reality (VR) is an emerging technology capable of reconstructing an interactive 3D anatomical model that can be freely explored and manipulated.
Methods: Sixty patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis underwent correction of the scoliotic curve by posterior arthrodesis after preoperative planning using traditional on-screen visualization of computed tomography scans (control group, n = 30) or exploration of a 3D anatomical model in VR using Google Cardboard (Google Inc.) (VR group, n = 30). Mean operative time, blood loss, length of hospital stay, and surgeon's satisfaction were assessed after surgery.
Results: The use of VR led to a significant decrease in operative time and bleeding while increasing the surgeon's satisfaction compared to the control group.
Conclusion: Preoperative planning with VR turned out to be effective in terms of operative time and blood loss reduction. Moreover, such technology proved to be reproducible, costeffective, and more satisfactory compared to conventional planning.
Keywords: Minimally invasive; Preoperative planning; Scoliosis; Spine surgery; Virtual reality.