A new study published in Spine examines the hybrid procedure for multilevel symptomatic lumbar degenerative disc disease.
Study authors examined data for 617 patients who underwent a hybrid surgery for chronic back pain from July 1998 to February 2012. The patients received a hybrid procedure of total disc replacements and anterior lumbar interbody fusion. Study authors found:
1. Patients reported statistically significant reduction in leg and back pain based on Visual Analog Scale data, and patients sustained progress for eight years following surgery.
2. On average, patients who underwent the hybrid procedure reported significant self-related disability and function improvements for eight years postoperatively.
3. In more than 90 percent of the cases, patients reported their satisfaction rate with the procedure was good or excellent. Patient satisfaction for just disc replacement patients has been reported at 82 percent, and just fusion patients reported 69 percent satisfaction two years after surgery.
4. Study authors concluded, "There is strong evidence of statistically and clinically significant reduction in back and leg pain for patients undergoing hybrid surgery for chronic low back pain…The results of this study suggest TDA with ALIF is a suitable option for patients suffering chronic back and leg pain secondary to multilevel DDD when conservative management fails."