Dorsal Lumbar Interbody Fusion for Chronic Axial, Mechanical Low Back Pain

LUMBAR SPINAL FUSION is a popular method for treating degenerative disc disease leading to chronic low back pain. Some of the techniques most commonly undertaken are posterior lumbar interbody fusion and transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion. These techniques have their own advantages and disadvantages. In this article, we briefly describe a modified technique, dorsal lumbar interbody fusion, which retains the advantages and avoids the disadvantages of the others. The goal of this procedure is to combine the aggressive decompression of both the thecal sac and bilateral nerve roots and symmetrical bilateral graft placement obtained via the posterior lumbar interbody fusion with the transforaminal placement of interbody grafts obtained via the transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion procedure. This modification has several advantages: it permits more aggressive removal of the disc bilaterally, larger and more symmetrical lordotic-shaped carbon fiber cages and structural allograft can be placed bilaterally, and the nerve roots can be aggressively decompressed bilaterally.