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Minimum of 10-year follow-up of V-rod technique in lumbar spondylolysis

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Abstract

Purpose

To describe and analyze the use of the V-rod technique described by Gillet to repair spondylolysis in both early and late postoperative periods.

Methods

Patients submitted to surgical correction of lumbar spondylolysis with a V-rod system were selected upon exclusion of adjacent disk degenerative changes and high-grade spondylolisthesis. A preoperative clinical (ODI and VAS) and radiological evaluation was performed, along with assessments on the early (clinical evaluation—up to 1 year) and late (clinical and radiological—at least 10 years) postoperative periods.

Results

Twenty-two patients were included, 21 with L5 spondylolysis. Fifty percent had grade I spondylolisthesis. A significant decrease in ODI and VAS was observed from pre- to early and late post-op evaluation (all p < 0.05) but not during post-op evaluations. Changes from pre- to postoperative of both ODI and VAS were significantly higher than the minimal clinically important difference. Preoperative ODI and VAS were significantly higher in overweight/obese but similar postoperatively. No additional instability was found in late postoperative X-rays. Three patients needed revision surgery, with a survival rate of 81.8% for Gillet instrumentation at a mean follow-up of 687.7 ± 60.0 weeks.

Conclusions

Surgical treatment with V-rod system is associated with a significant improvement in ODI and VAS and radiologic stability, with an equal benefit in obese/overweight patients. This study reports for the first time an improvement that is maintained even 10 years after the initial intervention, associated with a low rate of failure.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Orthopedics Department, Centro Hospitalar São João, Porto, Portugal

    Daniela Linhares, Manuel Ribeiro da Silva, Rui Matos, Vitorino Veludo & Nuno Neves

  2. MEDCIDS – Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    Daniela Linhares

  3. Orthopedics Department, Hospital da Prelada, Porto, Portugal

    Pedro Cacho Rodrigues

  4. Orthopedics – Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    Manuel Ribeiro da Silva & Nuno Neves

  5. Orthopedics Department, Hospital Santa Maria, Porto, Portugal

    Rui Pinto

Authors
  1. Daniela Linhares
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  2. Pedro Cacho Rodrigues
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  3. Manuel Ribeiro da Silva
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  4. Rui Matos
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  5. Vitorino Veludo
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Correspondence to Daniela Linhares.

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Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. This study protocol was submitted to and approved by a central ethics committee.

Conflict of interest

Daniela Linhares, Pedro Cacho Rodrigues, Manuel Ribeiro da Silva, Rui Matos, Vitorino Veludo, Rui Pinto and Nuno Neves declare no conflict of interests.

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Linhares, D., Cacho Rodrigues, P., Ribeiro da Silva, M. et al. Minimum of 10-year follow-up of V-rod technique in lumbar spondylolysis. Eur Spine J 28, 1743–1749 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-018-5833-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-018-5833-4

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