LIF or lumbar interbody fusion is one of the most effective and popular surgical procedures in order to manage different spinal pathologies and degenerative diseases. Presently lumbar interbody fusion can be performed with anterior, transformational, lateral, and posterior approaches true open surgery or minimally invasive surgery. According to the data, posterior lumbar interbody fusion has the most success rate with lower complications. On the other hand, anterior lumbar interbody fusion can restore the height of the disk improper alignment but it has some post-surgical complications. Lateral LIF is being performed with the help of an MIS technique showing the prospective outcome similar to Anterior LIF. Although these approaches can cause risks for the injuries of the lumbar plexus, vascular structures, and psoas.
Some of the lumbar interbody fusion has some risk factors and complications after the surgery. But the choice of LIF is based on the complications that the patient has before setting up for surgery. Therefore before applying surgical technique both the advantages and drawbacks need to be considered before performing the surgery. However, long-term study and research are still needed in order to find out a better outcome for these lumber interbody fusions.
Ref: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33108838/
