Numerical simulation study reveals ceramic cages stabilize the lumbar spine while reducing bone strain, suggesting a lower risk of cage subsidence.
Key Points
To assess the biomechanical viability and mechanical performance of a commercial bioceramic interbody cage relative to conventional titanium cages in lumbar interbody fusion.
Validated an intact L4–L5 functional spine unit finite element model under pure moments and combined physiological loading conditions.
Simulated posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF) and extreme lateral interbody fusion (XLIF) procedures to evaluate bioceramic versus titanium cages under postoperative loading.
Both PLIF and XLIF configurations stabilized the functional spine unit, achieving over a 70% reduction in range of motion.
Ceramic cages withstood physiological loads with zero predicted failure in PLIF and minimal interface failure (< 0.6%) in XLIF.
Ceramic cages significantly reduced adjacent vertebral strain compared with titanium, lowering subsidence risk without overloading the posterior fixation system.