Lack of Current Recommendations for Resuming Sexual Activity Following Spinal Surgery

Patients are faced with many questions surrounding the after effects of the various surgical procedures and their ability to return to preoperative activities. While patients often question whether surgery would provide alleviation of pain, weakness, and instability, they often have additional questions about sexual activity during their convalescence that are not always addressed. Although the literature shows postsurgical improvement in sexual activity in association with improved low back pain, reports vaguely address the variability in sexual activity recommendations based on anatomic location and type of spinal surgery. We conducted a PubMed search of the English language from 1990 to 2018 with the following keywords: sexual activity, postoperative, spinal fusion, spinal decompression, functional outcomes, laminectomy, rehabilitation, biomechanics, lumbar disc surgery, metabolic energy expenditure, coital position, and Oswestry Disability Index. Additional studies are needed that survey both patients and spine surgeons to examine current recommendations and to help formulate future guidelines.

Does the Cage Position in Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion Determine Unilateral versus Bilateral Screw Placement?: A Review of the Literature

This literature review examines the relative placement of the interbody cage with respect to the unilateral screw construct to address the need for bilateral screw placement versus unilateral screw placement. Transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) has become a widely used technique for correcting lumbar intervertebral pathologies. This review addresses the necessity for further study on the effects of the relative position of intervertebral cage placement on the outcome of lumbar spine surgery after TLIF with unilateral pedicle screw fixation. Previous studies have addressed various factors, including posterior screw fixation, cage size, cage shape, and number of levels fused, that impact the biomechanics of the lumbar spine following TLIF. A simple survey of the literature was conducted. A search of the English literature was conducted using the keywords ‘TLIF,’ ‘transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion,’ ‘graft placement,’ ‘graft position,’ ‘cage position,’ ‘cage placement,’ ‘unilateral pedicle screw,’ ‘unilateral TLIF cage placement,’ ‘lumbar biomechanics,’ ‘lumbar stability,’ ‘lumbar fusion,’ and ‘lumbar intervertebral cage’ with various combinations of the operators ‘AND’ and ‘OR’ and no date restrictions. Seventeen articles in the English literature that were most relevant to this research question were identified. To the best of our knowledge, there are no published data addressing the effects of cage placement relative to the unilateral screw on lumbar stability in TLIF with unilateral pedicle screw fixation. Investigation of the effects of cage placement is, thus, warranted to achieve optimal clinical outcomes in patients undergoing TLIF with unilateral pedicle screw fixation.