title: Plain radiograph assessment of spinal hardware.
abstract: The frequency and variety of spinal instrumentation has increased tremendously over the past 100 years, and imaging plays an important role in evaluating the postoperative spine. Although assessment of spinal hardware often involves a multimodality approach, plain radiographs are the most commonly used modality, given accessibility, cost, relatively low radiation dose compared with computed tomography, and provision of positional information. An approach to assessment of plain radiographs of the postoperative spine is discussed, and examples of common postoperative complications are provided, including infection, hardware failure, incomplete fusion, and junctional failure.
authors.affiliation: Division of Neuroradiology, Vancouver General Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: Vicnays
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Venu
authors.forename: Alexandra Talia
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Vertinsky
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Malfair
authors.forename: Jason B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Chew
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shewchuk
authors.forename: Manraj K S
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Heran
authors.forename: Douglas A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Graeb
authors.forename: John T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Street
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D016268:Internal Fixators; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011859:Radiography; D013122:Spinal Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery*; D013123:Spinal Fusion / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*