Study design:

A retrospective case control study.

Purpose:

The purpose of this study was to compare the surgical outcomes of multilevel lateral lumbar interbody fusion (LIF) and multilevel posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF) in the surgical treatment of adult spinal deformity (ASD) and to evaluate the sagittal plane correction by combining LIF with posterior-column osteotomy (PCO).

Overview of literature:

The surgical outcomes between multilevel LIF and multilevel PLIF in ASD patients remain unclear.

Methods:

We retrospectively reviewed 31 ASD patients who underwent multilevel LIF combined with PCO (LIF group, n=14) or multilevel PLIF (PLIF group, n=17) and with a minimum 2-year follow-up. In the comparison between LIF and PLIF groups, their mean age at surgery was 69.4 vs. 61.8 years while the mean follow-up period was 29.2 vs. 59.3 months. We evaluated the transition of pelvic incidence-lumbar lordosis (PI-LL) and disc angle (DA) in the LIF group, in fulcrum backward bending (FBB), after LIF and after posterior spinal fusion (PSF) with PCO. The spinopelvic radiographic parameters were compared between LIF and PLIF groups.

Results:

Compared with the PLIF group, the LIF group had less blood loss and comparable surgical outcomes with respect to radiographic data, health-related quality of life scores and surgical time. In the LIF group, the mean DA and PI-LL were unchanged after LIF (DA, 5.8°; PI-LL, 15°) compared with the values using FBB (DA, 4.3°; PI-LL, 15°) and improved significantly after PSF with PCO (DA, 8.1°; PI-LL, 0°).

Conclusions:

In the surgical treatment of ASD, multilevel LIF is less invasive than multilevel PLIF and combination of LIF and PCO would be necessary for optimal sagittal correction in patients with rigid deformity.