Objective:

To compare the clinical efficacy and safety between the endoscopic lumbar interbody fusion and minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion in the treatment of lumbar degenerative diseases.

Methods:

A exhaustive literature search was performed in the PubMed, Embase,Web of Science and Cochrane library databases. The studies published up to 1th of November 2020 that compared endoscopic lumbar interbody fusion（Endo-LIF） with minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (MIS-TLIF) for treating lumbar degenerative diseases were retrieved. Data were extracted according to the predefined clinical outcome measures, the primary outcomes were preoperative and postoperative leg/back pain VAS and ODI score; the secondary outcomes were operation time and intraoperative blood loss; length of hospitalization; and the complications, reoperation, and fusion rate. Data analysis was conducted with Stata 15.0 software.

Results:

A total of six studies involving 438 patients were included in the meta-analysis.The results of the merged analysis revealed similar complication rate, reoperation rate, and fusion rate , preoperative and postoperative leg/back pain VAS and ODI score (p＞0.05) for the two procedures. Nevertheless, with the exception of more operation time(p＜0.05), The Endo-LIF was associated with less intraoperative blood loss, shorter hospital stay(p＜0.05), and better long-term functional outcome when compared with the MIS-TLIF.

Conclusion:

Based on the evidence provided by our study, there is no significant difference in clinical efficacy and safety between the Endo-LIF and the MIS-TLIF in the treatment of lumbar degenerative diseases. Although the Endo-LIF requires a long operation time, it shows the advantages of less tissue trauma and rapid recovery after operation.