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©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Orthop. Nov 18, 2025; 16(11): 110276
Published online Nov 18, 2025. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v16.i11.110276
Published online Nov 18, 2025. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v16.i11.110276
Robot-assisted vs conventional lumbar interbody fusion: A systematic review and meta-analysis of perioperative, radiographic, and clinical outcomes
Carlos M Ardila, Department of Basic Sciences, Biomedical Stomatology Research Group, Faculty of Dentistry, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellin 050010, Antioquia, Colombia
Carlos M Ardila, Department of Periodontics, Saveetha Dental College and Hospital, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Saveetha University, Chennai 600077, Tamil Nadu, India
Santiago Ángel-Estrada, Department of Neurosurgery, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellin 050010, Antioquia, Colombia
Daniel González-Arroyave, Department of Surgery, Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, Medellin 050031, Antioquia, Colombia
Author contributions: Ardila CM performed the conceptualization and manuscript writing; Ardila CM, Ángel-Estrada S, and González-Arroyave D performed the data curation, data analysis, and revision of the manuscript; and all authors thoroughly reviewed and endorsed the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The authors have read the PRISMA 2009 Checklist, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the PRISMA 2009 Checklist.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Carlos M Ardila, Postdoctoral Fellow, Professor, Senior Researcher, Department of Basic Sciences, Biomedical Stomatology Research Group, Faculty of Dentistry, Universidad de Antioquia, Calle 70 No. 52-21, Medellin 050010, Antioquia, Colombia.
Received: June 3, 2025
Revised: June 12, 2025
Accepted: October 11, 2025
Published online: November 18, 2025
Processing time: 164 Days and 9.5 Hours
Revised: June 12, 2025
Accepted: October 11, 2025
Published online: November 18, 2025
Processing time: 164 Days and 9.5 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This article confirms that robot-assisted lumbar interbody fusion significantly improves pedicle screw placement accuracy and reduces intraoperative blood loss, with no significant difference in operative time. Additionally, robot-assisted techniques offer clear advantages in reducing surgeon radiation exposure and adjacent segment degeneration. Despite these benefits, long-term clinical and fusion outcomes were comparable to those of conventional methods. These findings support the clinical precision and perioperative efficiency of robotic systems while highlighting the need for high-quality multicenter trials and cost-effectiveness analyses to inform broader implementation in spine surgery.