Objective:

Various reconstructive surgical procedures have been described for lumbar spinal canal stenosis (LSCS) with osteoporotic vertebral collapse (OVC); however, the optimal surgery remains controversial. In this study, the authors aimed to report the clinical and radiographic outcomes of their novel, less invasive, short-segment anteroposterior combined surgery (APCS) that utilized oblique lateral interbody fusion (OLIF) and posterior fusion without corpectomy to achieve decompression and reconstruction of anterior support in patients with LSCS-OVC.

Methods:

In this retrospective study, 20 patients with LSCS-OVC (mean age 79.6 years) underwent APCS and received follow-up for a mean of 38.6 months. All patients were unable to walk without support owing to severe low-back and leg pain. Cleft formations in the fractured vertebrae were identified on CT. APCS was performed on the basis of a novel classification of OVC into three types. In type A fractures with a collapsed rostral endplate, combined monosegment OLIF and posterior spinal fusion (PSF) were performed between the collapsed and rostral adjacent vertebrae. In type B fractures with a collapsed caudal endplate, combined monosegment OLIF and PSF were performed between the collapsed and caudal adjacent vertebrae. In type C fractures with severe collapse of both the rostral and caudal endplates, bisegment OLIF and PSF were performed between the rostral and caudal adjacent vertebrae, and pedicle screws were also inserted into the collapsed vertebra. Preoperative and postoperative clinical and radiographical status were reviewed.

Results:

The mean number of fusion segments was 1.6. Walking ability improved in all patients, and the mean Japanese Orthopaedic Association score for recovery rate was 65.7%. At 1 year postoperatively, the mean preoperative Oswestry Disability Index of 65.6% had significantly improved to 21.1%. The mean local lordotic angle, which was -5.9° preoperatively, was corrected to 10.5° with surgery and was maintained at 7.7° at the final follow-up. The mean corrective angle was 16.4°, and the mean correction loss was 2.8°.

Conclusions:

The authors have proposed using minimally invasive, short-segment APCS with OLIF, tailored to the morphology of the collapsed vertebra, to treat LSCS-OVC. APCS achieves neural decompression, reconstruction of anterior support, and correction of local alignment.