Feasibility of Crossed Intralaminar Screws for Fusion of the Cervicothoracic Junction and the Thoracic Spine: Initial Experience and Surgical Technique Description in an Iberic Department

This chapter highlights the Feasibility of crossed Intralaminar Screws for fusion of the Cervicothoracic Junction and the Thoracic spine: Initial experience in an Iberic Department, surgical technique description. Intralaminar screws have been shown to be a biomechanically salvage technique in the thoracic spine, especially in long cervicothoracic, thoracic and thoracolumbar fixation. The goals of this article are to demonstrate our initial experience and the range of indications for thoracic crossed intralaminar screws. Pathologies affecting the cervicothoracic junction and thoracic spine have never been easy to treat. Finding a replacement for pedicle screws in thoracic spine surgery is necessary due to anatomical variations and the recurrent failure of pedicle screw insertion. The interlaminar crossed screws is a well-known and secure method for fusion in cervical spine, but in the thoracic spine and in the cervicothoracic junction there are insufficient clinical data to support this technique, until now. The use of crossed intralaminar screw in the thoracic region is an underestimated technique; this free hand technique is a fast, efficient and alternative method of transpedicular fixation and this technique at different thoracic levels appears to be a useful tool in the armamentarium of the spinal surgeon. The patients follow up is to be published in future articles.