Comparison between Minimally Invasive and
Open Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion
Kriangsak Saetia MD*, Anuchit Phankhongsab MD*,
Verapan Kuansongtham MD*,**, Sompoch Paiboonsirijit MD**
Affiliation :
* Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital,
Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
** Spine Institute, Bumrungrad International Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand
Objective : To compare the clinical and radiographic outcomes between minimally invasive and open transforaminal lumbar
interbody fusion (TLIF) for treatment of lumbar spondylolisthesis
Material and Method: A retrospective clinical study of 24 consecutive cases of lumbar spondylolisthesis treated by minimally
invasive TLIF (n = 12) or open TLIF (n = 12) was done at Ramathibodi Hospital between June 2008 and December 2009.
The following parameters were compared between the two groups, clinical and radiographic outcomes, blood loss, operative
time, length of hospital stay, and complications.
Results : The average duration of follow-up was 28 months (range, 24 months to 38 months). There was significantly
less intra-operative blood loss in minimally invasive TLIF group comparing to open TLIF group (317 cc vs. 645.83 cc:
p-value = 0.04). No significant difference was observed in clinical outcomes (VAS or ODI at 2 years), radiographic outcome
(91.67% fusion rate in both groups), operative time (340 minutes vs. 324 minutes: p-value = 0.96) length of hospital stay
(8.42 days vs. 8.33 days: p-value = 0.09) and major complication (8.33% in both groups) between the two groups.
Conclusion : Minimally invasive TLIF has similar clinical outcomes and fusion rate compared to open TLIF with additional
benefit of less intra-operative blood loss. However, the operative field of this technique is limited so thorough knowledge of
anatomy in this region is required.
Keywords : Lumbar spondylolisthesis, Minimally invasive, TLIF, Transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion
All Articles
Download