Abstract Recent advances in medical imaging, software design, and bioengineering have established three-dimensional (3D) printing as a revolutionary tool in modern spine surgery. Its ability to create patient-specific anatomical models, surgical guides, and customized implants has enhanced surgical precision, safety, and reproducibility in managing complex spinal deformities. This narrative review provides a comprehensive overview of current applications of 3D printing in spine surgery, summarizes the available clinical evidence, and outlines its limitations and future directions. A comprehensive literature search was conducted using PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases to identify studies published between 2010 and 2025 on 3D printing applications in spine surgery. Keywords included 3 D printing, spine surgery, intraoperative navigation, customized implant design, patient-specific implants , and surgical planning. Studies focusing on clinical applications, outcomes, and cost analyses were reviewed to summarize current practices and identify existing challenges. 3D printing has demonstrated significant utility in complex spinal deformity correction, tumor and infection management, pedicle screw placement, osteotomy planning, and personalized implant manufacturing. Improved anatomical visualization, higher screw placement accuracy, shorter operative time, reduced blood loss, and enhanced opportunities for surgical training have made it a valuable tool in orthopedic surgery. However, its widespread clinical adoption remains limited by high costs, labor-intensive workflows, the requirement for advanced technical expertise, and regulatory barriers. Moreover, most existing evidence is derived from case reports, small series, and early-stage clinical studies, with limited availability of long-term outcome data. Future research should focus on developing standardized assessment systems, evaluating cost-effectiveness, and generating high-quality long-term clinical evidence to define the role of 3D printing as an integral component of spine surgery.
Gupta et al. (Thu,) studied this question.