February 06, 2026
1 min read
Key takeaways:
Table of Contents
- Most adolescent athletes who underwent robotic-assisted pars repair returned to the same or higher level of sport.
- Fusion was also evident among patients who received a CT scan at 1-year follow-up.
Results showed robotic-assisted pars repair may be a safe and effective treatment option for adolescent athletes with symptomatic spondylolysis who failed nonoperative treatment.
“We have now, in the last several years, been increasingly offering [robotic-assisted pars repair] to our patients,” Sheeraz Qureshi, MD, MBA, co-chief of spine service and Patty and Jay Baker chair in minimally invasive spine surgery at Hospital for Special Surgery and professor of orthopedic surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College, told Healio. “It does not mean we jump the first nonsurgical treatment because some people do get better with that, but we have now increasingly been doing this.”
Robotic-assisted pars repair may be a safe and effective treatment option for adolescent athletes with symptomatic spondylolysis who have failed nonoperative treatment. Image: Adobe Stock
Qureshi and colleagues retrospectively reviewed data from nine adolescent patients with symptomatic spondylolysis who underwent pars repair through a single screw technique. Researchers collected patient demographics and surgical and postoperative information up to 1 year postoperatively.
According to the abstract, which was presented at the North American Spine Society Annual Meeting, five patients returned to the same or higher level of sport, and only one had residual back pain and did not return to sport. Results showed three patients who underwent CT scan at 1 year postoperatively had evidence of fusion.
Because a percentage of patients with symptomatic spondylolysis treated nonoperatively experience spinal stenosis and nerve impingement leading to a spinal fusion later in life, Qureshi said he hopes future research will determine whether patients who receive robotic-assisted pars repair go on to develop spondylolisthesis.
“If we find out that [robotic-assisted pars repair] prevents the development of spondylolisthesis then at that point it may be a fracture where you do not even try the nonoperative treatment,” Qureshi said. “If you find it, you fix it, because you are not only fixing the problem today, but you are preventing a future problem.”
For more information:
Sheeraz Qureshi, MD, MBA, wishes to be contacted through mediarelations@hss.edu.
Sources/Disclosures
Source:
Kaidi A, et al. Robotic pars repair allows early return to activity for adolescents with symptomatic spondylolysis: A case series. Presented at: North American Spine Society Annual Meeting; Nov. 14-16, 2025; Denver.
Disclosures:
Qureshi reports being on the medical board of directors for Globus Medical.
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