Preface

Dear colleagues, we hope you enjoy this book you have now in your hands. It started spontaneously as a group of friends of spinal surgeons thought it would be useful for the coming generations to share and put at hand this useful knowledge based on our practical experience throughout the years to improve the clinical results of spinal surgery patients.

The spine is a complex structure both from the static or anatomic point of view, as it is composed of bone (vertebrae), intervertebral discs, muscles, and ligaments (that could be the reason why the less aggressive you are, the better the outcome. It is in this complex point of intersection of statism and dynamicity where biomechanics play an important role, helping us to understand both how the spine behaves in its intact fashion and more importantly after we apply surgical gestures either for decompression or stabilization.

Biomechanics is the study of mechanics of life, and in our case, the mechanics of the moving spine. Its knowledge is key to avoiding complications during and after spinal surgery and improving clinical results by striving to get enough bony fusion and achieving good sagittal balance. As important as which patient should be operated on and when, the answers of why and how are also important to achieve success. That is why it is so important to know and understand the basic concepts with the intent to try to best help our patients who need spinal surgery.

This book does not pretend to be extensive, but rather a start for our younger colleagues. It is focused on the lumbar spine, starting with a chapter on biomechanical testing of the pedicle screw, which is the cornerstone of instrumented lumbar fusion. Before dealing with different fusion techniques in the third chapter, the second chapter deals with the motion-sparing technique of disc replacement. Fixation in osteoporotic patients and interspinous stabilizers have also been discussed, playing a role in lumbar surgery. Finally, the last chapter deals with the biomechanical view of fracture classifications. We hope you enjoy it and find these few chapters useful. This content of the book will surely help in the care of spine health.