The study authors examined 35 patients with recurrent disc herniation after a primary posterior instrumentation. The patients were 52.8 years old on average when undergoing the mini-open ALIF procedure. The surgeries occurred from August 2001 to February 2012.
The researchers found:
1. The average operating time for the patients was 115 minutes.
2. Average blood loss among the patients was 70 mL. There weren’t any blood transfusions reported among the patients.
3. The hospital length of stay was six days on average.
4. Two patients reported transient complications. The patients didn’t report any neurological worsening. The radicular pain also improved when compared with patients who didn’t undergo surgery.
5. There was a two-year follow-up minimum and the patients reported both visual analog score and Oswestry Disability Index percentage decreasing significantly:
• VAS: 7.9 to 1.4
• ODI: 78.8 percent to 21.7 percent
6. CTs at one and two years after surgery showed:
• Bony fusion
• Normal position
• Fusion cage morphology
“Mini-open retroperitoneal ALIF is an effective treatment for patients with recurrent lumbar disc herniation following primary posterior instrumentation,” concluded the study authors.
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