Minimally Invasive Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion – An Overview of its Benefits and Pitfalls

Minimally invasive spine surgery has been on the rise in the last decade, providing the auditorium of spine surgeons with state of the art solutions to common clinical situations. Avoiding extensive soft tissue injury in miniopen Transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) resulted in measurable clinical benefits like decrease of blood loss, less pain and faster rehabilitation postoperatively. Advanced technical support and the need for superb lighting down the working corridor became imminent. Although it has been difficult to show any long-term advantages of the technique, a decrease in occurrence of adjacent segment disease might be a path to its future research. However, increased radiation exposure and learning-curve associated complications warn against embracing mini-open TLIF too enthusiastically.