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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Asian J Neurosurg 2024; 19(04): 721-727
DOI: 10.1055/s-0044-1790515
Original Article

Perioperative Complications of Oblique Lumbar Interbody Fusion (OLIF): 5 Years of Experience with OLIF

Alex T. Johnson
1   Department of Spine Services, Indian Spinal Injuries Centre, New Delhi, India
,
Ganesh Kumar 
1   Department of Spine Services, Indian Spinal Injuries Centre, New Delhi, India
,
Bibhudendu Mohapatra
1   Department of Spine Services, Indian Spinal Injuries Centre, New Delhi, India
,
Rajat Mahajan
1   Department of Spine Services, Indian Spinal Injuries Centre, New Delhi, India
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Abstract

Objective The objective of this study was to share our early experience with oblique lumbar interbody fusion (OLIF), with emphasis on the perioperative complications and determine clinical outcomes following OLIF.

Materials and Methods It was a retrospective prospective study performed at a single institute from March 2019 to August 2023. A total of 56 consecutive patients who had undergone OLIF for degenerative spine disorders were enrolled in the study. Pre-, intra-, and postoperative data on these patients were collected. All the patients were followed up at regular intervals with an evaluation of Visual Analog Scale (VAS), Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), neurological parameters, and X-rays to look for fusion, screw loosening, pseudoarthrosis, and cage slippage. Statistical analysis was done with the odds ratio, chi-square test, and Student's t-test. A p-value of < 0.05 was considered significant.

Results The overall incidence of complications was 25%, with no mortality. Intraoperative complications were noted in 10.7% of cases. This included endplate fractures (n = 3), peritoneal lacerations (n = 2), and ureteric injury (n = 1). The most common early postoperative complications were postoperative ileus (n = 6), followed by anterior thigh or groin numbness (n = 3), ipsilateral psoas weakness (n = 2), and superficial surgical site infection (n = 2). Of the late postoperative complications, cage subsidence was the most common, which occurred in 4 patients, followed by adjacent segment degeneration (n = 2) and loss of indirect decompression (n = 1). The mean ODI and VAS scores showed significant improvement (p < 0.05) at the final follow-up.

Conclusion OLIF is a promising surgical technique with the potential to treat a variety of degenerative conditions of the lumbar spine with a good clinical outcome. Despite its various benefits, OLIF can lead to complications in rare instances, which every spine surgeon should be aware of.

Keywords

lumbar interbody fusion - oblique lumbar interbody fusion - OLIF - perioperative complications of OLIF

Authors' Contributions

All four authors made substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work, the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data, drafted the work or revised it critically for important intellectual content, approved the version to be published, and agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work, ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved. G.K. was responsible for conceptualization, writing the original draft, and visualization. B.M. contributed through supervision, methodology, and investigation. A.T.J. handled formal analysis, data curation, resources, and validation. G.K. also participated in writing the review, editing, and software development, while A.T.J. assisted with visualization and writing the original draft. R.M. took charge of project administration and conceptualization.


Ethical Approval

Ethics approval was obtained by our institution's Institutional Review Board. We conducted this study in compliance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. The study's protocol was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board


Patients' Consent

Written informed consents were obtained from all study participants.




Publication History

Article published online:
11 September 2024

© 2024. Asian Congress of Neurological Surgeons. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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