Minimal Invasive Pre-Op CT-Guided Gold-Fiducials in Local Anesthesia for Easy Level Localization in Thoracic Spine Surgery

The accurate identification of intraoperative levels is of paramount importance in spinal surgery, particularly in cases of obesity or anatomical anomalies affecting the thoracic spine. The aim of this work was to clarify whether the preoperative percutaneous placement of fiducial markers under local anesthesia only, with minimal discomfort to the patient, can be performed safely and efficiently. Patients treated at our institution between June 2019 and June 2020 for thoracic intraspinal lesions with preoperative percutaneous gold fiducial placement were analyzed. A total of 10 patients underwent CT-guided gold fiducial placement 2-48 h prior to surgery on an outpatient or inpatient basis. Patient characteristics, CT intervention time, and perioperative complications were recorded. In all cases, the gold markers were placed under local anesthesia alone and were easily visualized intraoperatively with fluoroscopy. There was no preoperative dislocation or malposition. The procedure was performed without X-ray exposure to the neuroradiology interventionalist. The average CT intervention time from the planning scout to the final control time was 14.3 min. The percentage of anatomical norm variants in our observation group was high, as 2 of the 10 patients had lumbarization of the first sacral vertebra, resulting in a six-link lumbar spine. Preoperative CT-guided transcutaneous submuscular placement of gold markers under local anesthesia is a practical and safe method for rapid and accurate intraoperative level determination in thoracic spine surgery in a time-saving minimally invasive manner. The virtually painless procedure can be performed either preoperatively on an outpatient basis or as an inpatient procedure.