A study in The Spine Journal identified risk factors associated with cage migration and cage retropulsion following transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion.
The prospective, observational, longitudinal study was conducted over five years and comprised 881 lumbar levels in 784 TLIF patients at three surgical centers.
Here are three things to know from the study:
1. Cage migration without subsidence was observed in 2.3 percent of cases, and the researchers observed cage migration with subsidence in 4.1 percent of patients.
2. Among the cage migration cases, researchers observed cage retropulsion in 30.4 percent of patients.
3. Osteoporosis is a significant risk factor for both cage migration and cage retropulsion. Additional risk factors include:
- A pear-shaped disc
- Posterior positioning of the cage
- Presence of endplate injury
- Use of a single cage