Background:

The oblique lateral interbody fusion (OLIF) procedure is an important component of the surgeon’s armamentarium for the treatment of degenerative spinal conditions. OLIF with posterior spinal fixation (PSF) is frequently performed and requires additional time because the patient is flipped to prone position and re-draped. We report a series of cases in which robotic-assistance was used for a two-surgeon workflow in which OLIF and single lateral position PSF were performed at the same time, termed simultaneous robotic single position surgery (SR-SPS).

Methods:

Data was collected retrospectively from medical records of 13 consecutive patients who underwent SR-SPS by a single surgeon at an academic center between June-December 2020. Instrumentation accuracy, total operating room time, estimated blood loss, length of stay, and complications were assessed.

Results:

A total of 13 patients whose mean age was 64.1 years (range 46-84) underwent SR-SPS over a 6-month period. Average follow-up was 10.3 months. All patients were treated for degenerative spine disease. The average operative duration was 111.2 ± 25.2 min. A total of 60 pedicle screws were placed bilaterally in the lateral position with an accuracy rate of 95.0%. Complications included one postoperative seroma and one patient required reoperation 3 months post-operatively due to a mechanical fall.

Conclusion:

We report the first case series describing SR-SPS. Our study shows that this method can reduce operative time while ensuring accurate and timely screw placement with minimal complications.