Flexible Stabilisation of the Degenerative Lumbar Spine Using PEEK Rods.

Posterior lumbar interbody fusion using cages, titanium rods, and pedicle screws is considered today as the gold standard of surgical treatment of lumbar degenerative disease and has produced satisfying long-term fusion rates. However this rigid material could change the physiological distribution of load at the instrumental and adjacent segments, a main cause of implant failure and adjacent segment disease, responsible for a high rate of further surgery in the following years. More recently, semirigid instrumentation systems using rods made of polyetheretherketone (PEEK) have been introduced.