Minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion

Abstract

During the past 75 years, surgical technique, spinal instruments and instrumentation, and molecular biology have advanced the notion of lumbar interbody fusion from what Mercer [1] described, in 1936, as perhaps “technically impossible” to a routine operation with a high rate of success. Pedicle screw augmentation of the posterior lateral interbody fusion (PLIF) described by Cloward [2] made possible a decompressive operation and arthrodesis with “360°” of stabilization from a single posterior approach. The transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) described by Harms and Rolinger [3] in 1982 offered the same biomechanical result as the PLIF but has gained more widespread popularity because it requires less manipulation of neural structures during graft placement. Although both the PLIF and TLIF are viable using minimally invasive techniques, the minimally invasive TLIF (miTLIF) has become the dominant minimally invasive lumbar fusion procedure.