High neurological complication rates for extreme lateral lumbar interbody fusion and related techniques: A review of safety concerns

BACKGROUND There are frequent reports of lumbosacral plexus and other neurological injuries occurring with extreme lateral interbody fusions (XLIF) and other related lateral lumbar techniques. METHODS This review focuses on the new neurological deficits (e.g. lumbosacral plexus, root injuries) that occur following minimally invasive surgery (MIS) XLIF and other related lateral lumbar techniques. RESULTS A review of multiple articles revealed the following ranges of new postoperative neurological complications for XLIF procedures: plexus injuries 13.28%; sensory deficits 0-75% (permanent in 62.5%); motor deficits 0.7-33.6%; anterior thigh pain 12.5-25%. Of interest, in a study by Lykissas et al., the frequency of long-term neural injury following lateral lumber interbody fusion (LLIF) with BMP-2 (72 patients) was much higher than for LLIF performed with autograft/allograft (72 patients). The addition of bone morphogenetic protein led to persistent sensory deficits in 29 vs. 20 without BMP; persistent motor deficits in 35 with vs. 17 without BMP; and persistent anterior thigh/groin pain in 8 with vs. 0 without BMP. They should also have noted the unacceptably high incidence of neural injury occurring with LLIF alone without BMP. CONCLUSION This review highlights the high risk of neural injury (up to 75% for sensory, 33.6% for motor, and an overall plexus injury rate of 13.28%) utilizing the XLIF and other similar lateral lumbar approaches. With such extensive neurological injuries, is the XLIF really safe, and should it still be performed?