Abstract
The number of fusion surgeries increase each year which also increase the need for implant removal. In some cases, it can be extremely hard to remove a pedicle screw especially when there is a mismatch of the screw and the screwdriver. Also the screwdrivers can be contaminated during the operation, and this will cause a delay till the instruments are re-sterilized. There is a need for the removal of screws without special instruments. We describe a method for removing tulip-head polyaxial pedicle screws without special instruments. The screws are removed using an Allen key, a rod bender and a "U" shaped rod. We successfully removed 76 screws in 11 recent cases without any complications. The "U" rod technique is a simple and useful technique for the removal of tulip-head polyaxial screws.