Ricerc@Sapienza

Purpose: The most effective interbody fusion technique for degenerative disk disease (DDD) is still controversial. The purpose of our study is to compare pure lateral (LLIF) and oblique lateral (OLIF) approaches for the treatment of lumbar DDD from L1–L2 to L4–L5, in terms of clinical and radiological outcomes. Materials and methods: 45 patients underwent lumbar interbody fusion for pure lumbar DDD from L1–L2 to L4–L5 through LLIF (n = 31, mean age 62.1 years, range 45–78 years) or OLIF (n = 14, mean age 57.4 years, range 47–77 years).

Over the last few decades, many surgical techniques for lumbar interbody fusion have been reported. The anterior-to-psoas (ATP) approach is theoretically supposed to benefit from the advantages of both anterior and lateral approaches with similar complication rates, even in L5-S1. At this segment, the anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF) requires retroperitoneal dissection and retraction of major vessels, whereas the iliac crest does not allow the lateral transpsoas approach.