INTRODUCTION: Spinal fusion techniques including anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF) have been used to alleviate chronic low back pain and segmental instability. Supplemental fixation using pedicle screws, translaminar screws, facet screws, anterior plates or spinous process plates is often used to increase the stability of the ALIF construct to enhance fusion and prevent subsidence and mig...

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy and perioperative complications associated with lumbar spinal fusion surgery, focusing on geriatric patients in the Republic of Korea. METHODS We retrospectively investigated 485 patients with degenerative spinal diseases who had lumbar spinal fusion surgeries between March 2006 and December 2010 at our institution. Age, sex, com...

OBJECTIVE To analyze the surgical outcome of traumatic lumbosacral spondylolisthesis treated using posterior lumbar interbody fusion, and help spine surgeons to determine the treatment strategy. METHODS We reviewed retrospectively five cases of traumatic lumbosacral spondylolisthesis treated in our hospital from May 2005 to May 2010. There were four male and one female patient, treated surgic...

PURPOSE This study aims to investigate the feasibility of a novel lumbar approach named extraforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (ELIF), a newly emerging minimally invasive technique for treating degenerative lumbar disorders, using a digitalized simulation and a cadaveric study. METHODS The ELIF surgical procedure was simulated using the Mimics surgical simulator and included dissection of the...

Interbody fusion with posterior instrumentation is a common method for treating lumbar degenerative disc diseases. However, the high rigidity of the fusion construct may produce abnormal stresses at the adjacent segment and lead to adjacent segment degeneration (ASD). As such, biodegradable implants are becoming more popular for use in orthopaedic surgery. These implants offer sufficient stabil...

STUDY DESIGN Prospective observational study. PURPOSE To introduce the techniques and present the surgical outcomes of mini-open anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF) at the most caudal segments of the spine combined with lateral lumbar interbody fusion (LLIF) for the correction of adult spinal deformity. OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE Although LLIF is increasingly used to correct adult spinal de...

PURPOSE To determine the influence of different ratios of hydroxyapatite (HA)/beta tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) and collagen augmentation for posterior lumbar fusion in a rat model. MATERIALS AND METHODS We generated a posterior lumbar fusion model in 50 rats and divided it into five groups of equal number as follows; 1) autologous bone graft as group A, 2) 70% HA+30% β-TCP as group B, 3) 70%...

Iatrogenic neurologic deficits after lumbar spine surgery are rare complications, but important to recognize and manage. Complications such as radiculopathy, spinal cord compression, motor deficits (i.e. foot drop with L5 radiculopathy), and new onset radiculitis, while uncommon do occur. Attempts at mitigating these complications with the use of neuromonitoring have been successful. Guidance i...