Oblique Lateral Interbody Fusion Combined with Lateral Plate VS. Combined with Posterior Pedicle Screw Fixation in Lumbar Degenerative Diseases

Abstract Background The oblique lateral interbody fusion (OLIF) is a minimally invasive indirect decompression technique for the treatment of degenerative spinal disease. OLIF with posterior pedicle screws fixation frequently is performed, whereas it requires much more surgery time and blood loss. The purpose of this study was to compare the oblique lateral interbody fusion (OLIF) combined with lateral plate (LP) vs. OLIF combined with posterior pedicle screw (PS) fixation for the treatment of lumbar degenerative diseases.Methods The clinical data of 53 patients with lumbar degenerative diseases who underwent OLIF from January 2020 to September 2020 were retrospectively analyzed，24 in OLIF combined with lateral plate (OLIF+LP) group and 29 in OLIF combined with pedicle screw (OLIF+PS) group. All patients completed a minimum 1-year follow-up. The duration of operation, blood loss, fusion rate and complications were recorded. The visual analog scale (VAS) score, Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), disc height (DH), foraminal height (FH) and cross-sectional area (CSA) were also evaluated.Results The operation time was 75.41±11.53 min in the OLIF+LP group, which shorter than that in OLIF+PS group(127.05±5.62min, P<0.01). Also, the blood loss was significantly less in the OLIF+LP group (39.55±5.32 ml ) than in the OLIF+PS group (89.81±9.62, P0.01). The DH, FH, and CSA parameters were all improved significantly after operation in both groups, however, there was no significant difference at the any follow-up point between the two groups. The total complication rate was 13.21% (7/53) in this study, and there was no siginificant difference between the two groups. The fusion rate was 91.67% in the OLIF+LP group and 93.10% in the OLIF+PS group (P =0.69).Conclusions OLIF+LP fixation seems to be a valuable surgical option for single-segmental lumbar degenerative disease, it can achieve much better clinical outcomes than OLIF+PS group.