A new study published in Spine examines single-level lateral lumbar interbody fusion for patients undergoing surgery due to adjacent segment disease.
The two-center study examined 52 lateral lumbar interbody fusion patients and followed them for more than one year. The study authors found:
1. The patients who underwent the LLIF for adjacent segment disease reported reduced back and leg pain, increased segmental lordosis and decreased segmental coronal angulation.
2. At the surgical level, the patients reported increased intervertebral height.
3. Eleven patients underwent reoperations for the LLIF procedures, a 21.2 percent reoperation rate. The second operation was performed at around 14 months postoperatively.
4. Among the patients who underwent a reoperation, 72.7 percent underwent standalone LLIF; 56.1 percent in the group that didn't have reoperations underwent standalone LLIF.
5. The patients who had circumferential fusion had a higher fusion rate — 87.5 percent — when compared with the standalone group — 53.8 percent.
"LLIF may be an effective surgical treatment option for ASD with regard to both the clinical and radiographic outcomes in a large portion of cases," concluded the study authors. "Although standalone LLIS is associated with a narrower spectrum of adverse effects than circumferential fusion, posterior instrumentation may be necessary to increase segmental stability."