[Laparoscopic anterior lumbar interbody spinal fusion]

The technique of Laparoscopic Anterior Lumbar Interbody Spinal Fusion (ALIF) has been developed in recent years for treating patients with spondylolisthesis, symptomatic degenerative disc disease and as salvage for failed posterior spinal fusion. The authors have performed 23 laparoscopic ALIF procedures with the close cooperation of spine and laparoscopic surgeons. This collaboration resulted in the successful laparoscopic completion of 87% of our cases. Postoperative length of stay was 2 days and patients required only minimal amounts of oral pain medications. Fourteen patients (70%) achieved excellent long term pain relief while 3 patients subsequently required an additional posterior fusion. There was only one major complication of bleeding from an ileac vein. Our results, similar to the results published by others, demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of laparoscopic ALIF. Further proof is still necessary to determine whether this procedure carries significant advantages vis-a-vis the open anterior or retroperitoneal approach.