A minimal soft tissue damage approach of spondylolysis repair in athletes: preliminary report

PURPOSE AND HYPOTHESIS: Both spondylolysis and spondylolisthesis come in second place in the causes of pain among athletes. Treatment options include both conservative management and different operative methods. Athletes and adolescents are groups where the priority is to protect tissues from perioperative damage. OBJECTIVE: We present our modification of the Buck’s, direct pars repair method, which we believe offers maximum protection of tissues. We used the modified surgical method in young, competitive athletes, in whom non-surgical treatment was not effective. METHOD: Eight pars defects in five patients were treated using suggested method. All of them were young males (aged between 13 and 18 years), who practice soccer professionally. We use modified method of direct repair pars through the cannulated screw fixation, first proposed by Buck. Preoperative preparation consists of proper analysis of computer tomography images in multiplanar reconstruction mode: measuring screw length, measurement of inclination angle of the optimal screw trajectory in the frontal and sagittal plane. During the operation, the wire proper direction is performed by usage of the predetermined angles. Starting point for guide wire was also changed to the lower end of the facet. The fusion takes place with a screw of 3 mm diameter. After the operation patient need to use thoracolumbar spinal orthosis as a primary immobilization for 6 weeks and appropriate rehabilitation for another 6 weeks. We used these methods in eight pars fixations. RESULTS: All of the patients were painless in first week after surgery. All of them underwent total rehabilitation programme and returned to sport. CONCLUSIONS: Direct pars repair using Buck’s method with proposed modification, including adequate radiographic preparation, the use of a thin cannulated screw and changing the point of screw entry, allows precise and safe screw placement, regardless of the size of the bone at the defect site.