Clinical outcomes of transarticular and lateral vertebral canal lumbar interbody fusion for lumbar spinal stenosis: a retrospective study of 124 cases

To explore the effectiveness and safety of transarticular and lateral vertebral canal lumbar interbody fusion (TLc-LIF) for the treatment of lumbar spinal stenosis. Clinical data from 124 patients with lumbar spinal stenosis who underwent transarticular and lateral vertebral canal lumbar interbody fusion operations from January 2011 to March 2014 were analyzed retrospectively. The operation duration, blood loss, and postoperative complications were recorded. The visual analog scale, Japanese Orthopedic Association score and Macnab criteria were used to evaluate the clinical efficacy. All patients were followed-up through outpatient review or telephone calls, and the mean follow-up interval was 36.2 months. The mean operative duration was 146.21 +/- 34.20 min. The mean blood loss was 496.85 +/- 114.74 ml. According to the Macnab scoring criteria, the clinical outcome was excellent in 69 patients (55.65%), good in 47 patients (37.90%), acceptable in 8 patients (6.45%), and worse in none of the patients. The rate of excellent or good patient outcomes was 93.55%. The score on the visual analog scale decreased significantly between pre-operative and post-operative measurements, and the Japanese orthopedic association score increased between the pre-operative stage and follow-up. The differences between pre- and postoperative scores for both scales were statistically significant (P<0.05). TLc-LIF has increased potential with broadly developing prospects; thus, it would be beneficial for these procedures to be applied on a more widespread basis due to their advantages in the treatment of lumbar spinal stenosis, including minimal trauma, decreased bleeding, and high satisfaction.