Contralateral radiculopathy after unilateral transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion / 中华骨科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To analyze the incidence and risk factors of contralateral radiculopathy in patients after unilateral transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) surgery.Methods A retrospective study was conducted within 587 patients (average age 57.1 years,range 19-71 years) who underwent unilateral TILF from January 2010 to January 2014 in our hospital,including 334 males and 253 females.Patients were divided into a symptomatic group and an asymptomatic group.The causes of contralateral neurological symptom were evaluated according to the radiological data.The difference of pre-and post-operative contralateral foramen area (CFA),segmental angle (SA) and the clinical treatment outcomes (VAS,JOA score) were compared between two groups.Results Patients were followed up for 9-21 months,average 15.1 months.Post-operative contralateral radiculopathy occurred in 28 (4.8％) of the patients who underwent unilateral TLIF,including contralateral foraminal stenosis in 16 (57.1％,16/28),screw malposition in 5 (17.9％,5/28),contralateral lateral recess stenosis and/or newly developed disc herniation in 3 (10.7％,3/28),hematoma in 1 (3.6％,1/28),cement compression in 1 (3.6％,1/28),and unknown origin in 2 patients (7.1％,2/28).Nineteen (3.2％,19/587) of the 28 patients received revision surgery because of ineffective conservative treatment.Compared with the asymptomatic group,the difference of pre-and post-operative CFA was significantly smaller (-13.8±13.2 mm2) in symptomatic group,while the SA was significantly greater (7.0°±9.8°) in symptomatic group.The JOA score at 3 months after the surgery was significantly improved in asymptomatic group (63.0％±18.1％,P＜0.05).Conclusion The incidence rate of contralateral neurological symptom was 4.8％ in the present study.The potential risk factors associated with contralateral radiculopathy were predominantly contralateral foraminal stenosis and screw malposition.The excessive restoration of SA might have an effect on contralateral nerve compression,which should arouse the attention of the surgeon.