Minimally Invasive Treatment (XLIF) of Adjacent Segment Disease after prior Lumbar Fusions

Although adjacent segment degeneration (ASD) is a well-described process after lumbar fusion and there has been significant discussion in the literature about the surgical treatments of this process using traditional open techniques, there has been little discussion about the application of minimally invasive techniques to this complex problem. 100 consecutive patients with symptomatic ASD were treated with minimally invasive spinal fusion using the extreme lateral interbody fusion (XLIF) technique. We examined this group to determine perioperative complications and early outcomes and compared this to prior traditional surgical treatments. Length of hospitalization averaged 1.13 days and hemoglobin change 1.34 g. There were no transfusions or infections. Visual analog pain scoring decreased from 8.6 preoperatively to 2.8 at 6 months postoperatively (67 patients). Minimally invasive surgery offers good early symptomatic improvement in patients with ASD with shorter hospitalization and fewer complications than traditional modalities. t in patients with ASD with shorter hospitalization and fewer complications than traditional modalities.