Biomechanical Evaluation of Lumbar Interbody Fixation Techniques: A Comparative Study of Standalone Cages vs. 360-Fixation Constructs

Low fusion rates and cage subsidence have been reported as the main drawbacks of lumbar fixation with static interbody cages [1]. Although several clinical and biomechanical studies have evaluated the efficacy of 360 interbody fixation constructs (Anterior cage plus posterior fixation) [2,3], no study has reported the biomechanical comparison between such constructs and more novel techniques which use standalone fixation implants [4]. A cadaver validated computational model of lumbar spine was used to compare the biomechanics of spine instrumented with 360 fixations versus standalone cage with screw and cage with lateral plate systems.
To compare the mechanical stability of different interbody fixation techniques in lumbar spinal segments with standalone interbody versus static cage with posterior fixation or lateral plate system.