Long-Term Clinical and Radiological Outcomes of Minimally Invasive Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion: 10-Year Follow-up Results
Young Ho Roh, Jae Chul Lee, Jinyeong Hwang, Hyung-Ki Cho, Jaewan Soh, Sung-Woo Choi, Byung-Joon Shin
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Many studies have reported that minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (MI-TLIF) provides satisfactory treatment comparable to other fusion methods. However, in the case of MI-TLIF, there are concerns about the long-term outcome compared to conventional bilateral PLIF due to the small amount of disc removal and the lack of autogenous bone graft. Long-term follow-up studies are still lacking as most of the previous reports have follow-up periods of up to 5 years. METHODS: Thirty patients who underwent MI-TLIF were followed up for > 10 years (mean, 11.1 years). Interbody fusion rates were determined using a modified Bridwell grading system. Adjacent segment disease (ASD) was defined as radiological adjacent segment degeneration (R-ASDeg) as seen on plain X-rays; reoperated adjacent segment disease referred to the subsequent need for revision surgery. Clinical outcomes after surgery were assessed based on back and leg pain as well as the Oswestry disability index (ODI). RESULTS: = 0.040). CONCLUSION: MI-TLIF improved both clinical and radiological outcomes, and the improvements were maintained for up to 10 years after surgery. However, R-ASDeg developed in up to 50% of the patients within 10 years, and both leg pain on the VAS and the ODI were worse in patients with R-ASDeg.