A study published in The Spine Journal examined the efficacy and safety of percutaneous transforaminal interbody fusion for lumbar spinal fusion at an outpatient center.
The study featured 50 patients who underwent pTLIF with an expandable interbody cage at an ASC between 2009 and 2017.
Here are five things to know:
1. The mean follow-up period was 33.1 months. Patients were evaluated with the Visual Analogic Scale pre- and postoperatively as well as the Oswestry Disability Index and modified Macnab criteria.
2. Of the 50 patients, 28 reported excellent outcomes while 17 had good outcomes and three reported fair outcomes were fair, according to Macnab criteria.
3. Postoperative VAS scores dropped 4.2 points and ODI scores decreased by 19.4 points.
4. No major complications were reported, and the median postoperative discharge time was 25 hours.
5. Study authors concluded, "The pTLIF technique has disruptive potential as it opens the way to ambulatory fusion surgery in an outpatient clinical setting."