A new study published in The Spine Journal examined the oblique lateral interbody fusion, examining whether the technique can overcome challenges with traditional fusion approaches.
The study author examined 137 patients who underwent the OLIF procedure with 340 operative levels. The patients were examined for adverse events within six months of surgery.
The researchers found:
1. Overall complication rate was 11.7 percent.
2. The most common complications were:
● Subsidence: 4.4 percent
● Postoperative ileus: 2.9 percent
● Vascular injury: 2.9 percent
3. There were cases of ileus and vascular injury, but only when the cases included OLIF51.
4. There weren't any neurological injury, ureteral injury or sympathectomy affecting lower extremities. There were no cases of visceral injury.
5. Fusion was successful at 97.9 percent of the surgical levels.
"OLIF is a safe procedure at L1-5 as well as L5-S1," the study authors concluded. "The complication profile appears acceptable when compared to [lateral lumbar interbody fusion] and [anterior lumbar interbody fusion]. The oblique trajectory mitigates psoas muscle and lumbosacral plexus-related complications seen with the lateral transpsoas approach."