ABSTRACT
Objective A retrospective study to determine the mid-and long-term clinical and radiological outcomes of unilateral instrumented transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) with bilateral decompression via unilateral paramedian incision.Methods From J ul.,2007 to J un.,2010,73 patients with single segmental lumbar stenosis were collected in this study.All of 73 patients had bilateral signs and symptoms of stenosis,and accepted the unilateral TLIF with bilateral decompression via unilateral paramedian incision.The oswestry disability index (ODI),Japanese orthopedic association scale (JOA),visual analog scale (VAS),angle of lumbar lordosis (LL) and angle of segmental lordosis (SL) were calculated and compared at pre-operation,six months after operation and last follow up.In addition,the operating time,blood loss,length of hospital stay,complications and fusion rate were also recorded.Results There were 30 males and 43 females in this study.The mean age,mean operation time,mean blood loss and mean length of hospital stay was (57.7 ± 10.1) years,(92.0 ± 26.7)minutes,(150.5 ± 130.3) mL and (12.3 ± 2.7) days,respectively.The follow up was 5 years at least and the mean follow up was (79.4 ± 11.1) months.The ODI,JOA and VAS at six months after operation and last follow up were significantly better than those at pre-operation.As for the sagittal alignment assessment,the LL and SL at six months after operation and last follow up also increased significantly compared with those at pre-operation.All of 73 patients achieved solid interbody fusion.Conclusions Unilateral instrumented TLIF with bilateral decompression via unilateral paramedian incision is an effective innovation.Compared with the traditional TLIF,it could not only reduced the surgical injury and operation cost but also achieve the same ideal effect.