Surgical navigation for revision surgical procedure

A method for surgical navigation during revision surgery on a patient positioned on an operating table, the method comprising:

• (a) making an incision in a patient undergoing revision surgery to expose at least a portion of a vertebral column of the patient, wherein the revision surgery occurs subsequent to an initial surgery on the vertebral column;
• (b) temporarily coupling a proximal end of a reference arc to lateral connector that was substantially permanently coupled to a vertebrae of the patient during the initial surgery, wherein a distal end of the reference arc is coupled to a first navigation tracker configured to communicate with a navigation system;
• and
• (c) using a surgical instrument to conduct the revision surgery, wherein:
• the surgical instrument includes a second navigation tracker configured to communicate with the surgical navigation system;
• the second navigation tracker has a known relationship with the first navigation tracker;
• and
• the navigational system calculates a spatial characteristic of the instrument from the known spatial relationship.

A method for surgical navigation during revision surgery, the method comprising:

• (a) receiving, at a processor of a computing device during revision surgery upon a vertebral column of a patient, data from a first navigation tracker of a reference arc that is temporarily coupled to a surgical object, wherein:
• the first navigation tracker is configured to communicate with a navigation system;
• and
• the surgical object was substantially permanently affixed to a vertebrae of the patient during a preceding surgery;
• (b) receiving, at the processor, data from a second navigation tracker of a surgical instrument, wherein:
• the second navigation tracker is configured to communicate with the navigation system;
• and
• the second navigation tracker has a known relationship with the first navigation tracker;
• (c) calculating, at the processor, a spatial characteristic of the surgical instrument using the known relationship;
• and
• (d) rendering, using the processor, the spatial characteristic on a display unit.