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. 2015 Apr;5(2):102-9.
doi: 10.1055/s-0034-1396432. Epub 2014 Dec 1.

Does Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion Have Advantages over Posterolateral Lumbar Fusion for Degenerative Spondylolisthesis?

Takahito Fujimori  1 , Hai Le  2 , William W Schairer  2 , Sigurd H Berven  2 , Erion Qamirani  2 , Serena S Hu  2
Affiliations

Does Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion Have Advantages over Posterolateral Lumbar Fusion for Degenerative Spondylolisthesis?

Takahito Fujimori et al. Global Spine J. 2015 Apr.

Abstract

Study Design Retrospective cohort study. Objective To compare the clinical and radiographic outcomes of transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) and posterolateral lumbar fusion (PLF) in the treatment of degenerative spondylolisthesis. Methods This study compared 24 patients undergoing TLIF and 32 patients undergoing PLF with instrumentation. The clinical outcomes were assessed by visual analog scale (VAS) for low back pain and leg pain, physical component summary (PCS) of the 12-item Short-Form Health Survey, and the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI). Radiographic parameters included slippage of the vertebra, local disk lordosis, the anterior and posterior disk height, lumbar lordosis, and pelvic parameters. Results The improvement of VAS of leg pain was significantly greater in TLIF than in PLF unilaterally (3.4 versus 1.0; p = 0.02). The improvement of VAS of low back pain was significantly greater in TLIF than in PLF (3.8 versus 2.2; p = 0.02). However, there was no significant difference in improvement of ODI or PCS between TLIF and PLF. Reduction of slippage and the postoperative disk height was significantly greater in TLIF than in PLF. There was no significant difference in local disk lordosis, lumbar lordosis, or pelvic parameters. The fusion rate was 96% in TLIF and 84% in PLF (p = 0.3). There was no significant difference in fusion rate, estimated blood loss, adjacent segmental degeneration, or complication rate. Conclusions TLIF was superior to PLF in reduction of slippage and restoring disk height and might provide better improvement of leg pain. However, the health-related outcomes were not significantly different between the two procedures.

Keywords: PLF; TLIF; disk height; lordosis; outcome; pelvic parameters.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosures Takahito Fujimori, none Hai Le, none William W. Schairer, none Sigurd H. Berven, Board membership: Globus; Consultant: Medtronic; Royalties: Medtronic; Stock/stock options: Co-Align, Simpirica, Providence Medical Erion Qamirani, none Serena S. Hu, Consultant: Medtronic, NuVasive

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Radiographic parameters: (a) anterior disk height, (b) posterior disk height, (c) local disk lordosis.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
(Left) Posterolateral fusion. (Right) Transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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