Study design:

Retrospective study.

Objectives:

The purpose of this study was to compare clinical and radiological results of lateral lumbar interbody fusion (LLIF) for lumbar degenerative disease (LDD) in patients under the age of 80 years with those over the age of 80 years.

Methods:

One hundred two patients who underwent LLIF without direct decompression were enrolled, including 92 patients who were less than 80 years (Group A) and ten over 80 years (Group B). All patients were evaluated using numerical evaluation scale (NRS) scores for low back pain (NRS_LBP), leg pain (NRS_LP), and leg numbness (NRS_LN), as well as demographic data, surgical data, and imaging data before and after LLIF surgery.

Results:

Patients over the age of 80 were found to have longer hospital stays (P=0.006), more postoperative muscle weakness (P=0.011) and endplate injuries (P=0.038). In addition, each NRS score improved significantly from preoperative to postoperative (P<0.001). However, the changes in scores between preoperative and postoperative for each NRS were not significantly different between the two groups. Statistically significant increases in lumbar lordosis preoperatively compared with postoperatively were observed in patients under 80 years but did not change in those over 80 years.

Conclusion:

These data suggest a need for awareness of intraoperative endplate injury and postoperative motor weakness. Critically, indirect decompression with LLIF in LDD in patients over age 80 as well as those under age 80 has shown satisfactory clinical and radiological results. This study shows that age alone should not prevent older people from undergoing LLIF.