A matched analysis published in the June issue of Spine found experienced neurosurgeons and orthopedic spine surgeons had similar outcomes after transforaminal lumbar interbody fusions.
Researchers analyzed patient records between 2010 and 2022 to identify patients with lumbar spinal or spondylolisthesis who had one- to three-level TLIF procedures. Spine surgeons and neurosurgeons who performed at least 250 procedures were included in the study, and patients who had surgery for tumor, trauma, or infection were excluded.
One-to-one matching created two groups of 18,195 TLIF patients without baseline differences. There were no differences in all-cause surgical complications, but neurosurgeons saw a higher rate of all-cause medical complications.