Photo Credit: Benito Vega
The following is a summary of “Comparative Evaluation of Efficacy and Complications Between Biportal Endoscopic Lumbar Interbody Fusion and Minimally Invasive Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion for Lumbar Degenerative Diseases: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis,” published in the April 2025 issue of Journal of Pain Research by Hu et al.
Researchers conducted a retrospective study to compare the clinical implications, complication rates, and fusion success between biportal endoscopic lumbar interbody fusion (BE-LIF) and minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (MI-TLIF).
They explored pertinent scholarly literature from renowned databases up to April 2023. The evaluation included parameters such as operation time, hospitalization duration, estimated blood loss, pain intensity via the Visual Analog Scale (VAS), and functional impairment using the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI).
The results showed that 10 studies with 736 participants were included in the meta-analysis. No significant differences were found between the BE-LIF and MI-TLIF techniques in terms of leg pain (VAS, P > 0.05), complication rates (7.76% vs 7.97%, P = 0.71), and fusion rates (89.59% vs 88.60%, P = 0.90). However, early postoperative back pain (VAS, P < 0.0001) and the ODI (P = 0.007) scores were significantly lower in the BE-LIF group. Blood loss was also significantly lower in the BE-LIF group (P < 0.0001). Although BE-LIF required a longer surgery duration (P = 0.02), it resulted in shorter hospitalization compared to MI-TLIF (P < 0.0001).
Investigators concluded that BE-LIF surgery demonstrated similar clinical efficacy and complication rates to MI-TLIF for lumbar degenerative diseases but offered advantages such as less blood loss, shorter hospital stays, quicker postoperative back pain relief, and faster functional recovery compared to MI-TLIF.
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