Anterior interbody fusion of the lumbar spine

Anterior interbody fusion of the lumbar spine by the extraperitoneal technique was performed in 47 patients with incapacitating low-back pain due to spondylolisthesis (26 patients) or disc degeneration (21 patients). The mean age was 38.2 years. Forty-five patients were re-examined 2--6 years postoperatively. According to the patients' own evaluation at follow-up, 53 per cent were free or almost free of back pain, 29 per cent were improved, 11 per cent unchanged and 7 per cent felt that the condition had deteriorated. Non-union occurred in nine patients, but among these three were free of pain, four were better and two were worse than before operation. The results do not seem to be correlated with age, sex, duration of pain before operation, degree of slipping in spondylolisthesis or the length of time out of work before surgery. It is concluded that this method may be worth continuing, but the patients should be selected with care.