Efficacy analysis of transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion in the treatment of far lateral lumbar disc herniation

Objective To explore the efficacy of transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion(TLIF) in treatment of far lateral lumbar disc herniation(FLLDH).Methods Retrospective analysis of the data of 19 patients who underwent TLIF for FLLDH from January 2007 to December 2010.Comparing the difference of Oswestry disability index(ODI) in the preoperative,postoperative and the last follow-up,and the final outcomes were evaluated through the Macnab′s criteria in all the patients.Results The mean follow-up period was 38 months(12-60 months),the fusion rate was 100%,there were no cases of postoperative recurrence.The preoperative,postoperative and final follow-up ODI scores was(38.2±4.80),(14.3±2.8),and(12.8±2.9) respectively,there were statistically significant differences in mean ODI between the pre-operative and the post-operative(P 0.05);no significant differences were observed between post-operative and final follow-up assessments(P 0.05).According to Macnab′s criteria,14 cases achieved excellent results,4 good,1 fair,and 0 poor,Excellent and good resumed rate was 94.7%.Conclusion TLIF is an safe and effective method for the treatment of FLLDH,and it could effectively prevent postoperative chronic low back pain,lumbar instability and recurrence.