Minimally Invasive Thoracolumbar Facet Joint Fusion

Abstract

For minimally invasive spine surgery to be successful, it is mandatory that it achieves the same goals that open surgical procedures achieve. By avoiding collateral damages to anatomic structures, the purported advantages of minimally invasive techniques include reduction in postoperative pain, length of hospitalization, blood loss, and medical and surgical complications. During the past several years, surgeons have been expanding the indications for minimally invasive techniques from degenerative procedures to more complex spinal disorders, including thoracolumbar deformity, trauma, tumor, and infections. Paramount to successful results of treatment of many thoracolumbar pathological conditions is achieving a solid biological fusion.