Minimally Invasive Techniques for Lumbar Interbody Fusions

Lumbar spinal fusions have been performed for nearly a century for a variety of spinal conditions and include posterior/posterolateral and anterior lumbar interbody fusions. Traditionally, the ability to achieve adequate exposure to perform these procedures required an open surgical approach; however, the advent of newer techniques and technology, combined with an improved understanding of surgical anatomy, has resulted in newer minimally invasive techniques. Posterior approaches include posterior and transforaminal lumbar interbody fusions, whereas anterior techniques include retroperitoneal and transperitoneal anterior lumbar interbody fusion approaches. More recently, the extreme lateral interbody fusion and axial lumbar interbody fusion have been described. This article provides a general review of the history, indications, brief overview, and description of the more common minimally invasive spine surgery techniques used for achieving a lumbar interbody fusion.