Early benefits of minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion in comparison with the traditional open procedure

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundLumbar interbody fusion is a standard operative procedure in orthopedic spine surgery. Morphological and functional changes in the multifidus muscle after an open procedure have led to the development of a minimally invasive technique, after which no such muscle changes were observed. MethodsSixty-four patients, with clinical and radiological criteria for one-level transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion were enrolled in our prospective randomized study between December 2011 and March 2014. They were randomized into two groups: open approach (33 patients) vs. minimally invasive approach (31 patients); one patient was excluded from each group due to postoperative complications. Independent samples T-test was used to compare average values of increase in creatin kinase (CK), which is an enzymatic marker of muscle injury, average surgical time, loss of blood during and after surgery, back pain according to the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and day of discharge from the hospital. ResultsStatistically important (P< 0.001) lower blood loss (188 ml vs. 527 ml total), less CK increase (15 ukat/L vs. 29 ukat/L), lower VAS score after surgery (7.3 vs. 8.7) and earlier discharge from the hospital (3.5 days vs. 5.2 days) were observed in the minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion group. No significant difference in average surgical time was recorded. Conclusions Our results suggest, that minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion causes is associated with less muscle damage, lower blood loss, less post surgical pain and faster early rehabilitation, which is in accordance with previous studies.

Keywords

• spondylodesis, TLIF, spinal fusion, multifidus muscle