Oblique lumbar interbody fusion promotes fast recovery with less destruction of the back muscles

In the past, open surgery was the treatment option for this condition, and it involves cutting through a lot of muscles, so significant blood loss can occur during surgery. Furthermore, it is necessary to cut bone to expand the nerve cavity, so injury can occur to the nerves or fibrosis can attach to the nerves after surgery.

 

Most patients in this group are elderly patients with many chronic diseases, significant spinal deformity and pressure on the nerves on multiple levels. As a result, open surgery creates risk of many different complications and a long post-operative recovery time.

 

Today, a new surgical technique has been adopted. It is recognized worldwide to be able to avoid destruction of back muscles while causing little blood loss and reducing nerve injury during surgery. This technique is known as oblique lumbar interbody fusion (or OLIF). In this surgical technique, the surgeon will make a cut through a small tube located along the side of the patient’s torso by using a device to part the muscle layers, thus leading to only minor damage to the muscles. Next, the spinal disc is reinforced by using a device to brace the spine. This technique can solve abnormal spinal alignment and herniation, since the spinal brace helps lift the collapsed disc to create a wider pathway for the nerves, thereby reducing pressure on the nerves without requiring any cutting of the bone that is putting pressure on the nerves through the back. This method can reduce injury of the nerves and fibrosis post-surgery. However, in some cases where the patient as experienced a major spinal curvature or dislocation, it might be necessary to perform percutaneous pedicular screw fixation to provide additional reinforcement.

 

Because this surgery is minimally invasive, post-surgery wound pain is minor, and patients can quickly get up from the bed quickly after surgery, and the method can effectively reduce complications and requires only 1-2 days of hospital recovery. Therefore, this technique is suitable for patients who experience chronic back pain from herniated or unstable spinal discs or sciatica pain due to spinal curvature or pressure or herniation, especially in elderly patients who experience pressure on their nerves on multiple levels.