Lateral plate instrumentation constitutes an internal fixation system tailored for lateral and anterior surgical approaches. It increases the stability immediately after OLIF, and theoretically increases the fusion rate after surgery. Moreover, a single lateral incision can help avoiding the posterior muscle tissue injury, decreasing the potential risk of nerve damage and shortening the operation time. In this retrospective study, the postoperative radiograpgic parameters such as DH、FH and CSH were all improved than before in both of the groups. Undoubtedly, the clinical symptoms alleviated in all of the patients. However, the patients in OLIF + LP group had lower VAS and ODI scores after surgery than the OLIF + PS group, the destruction of posterior longitudinal complex during the pedicle screw fixation may be the main cause.
OLIF was reported as an relatively safe procedure through the transpsoas approach, allowing for psoas preservation, and avoids the vascular injury[6]. It has been reported to result in about 30.0% average increase in the neural foramen area and a 30.2% median increase in the cross-sectional area of the dural sac [12–13]. However, the occurrence of complications is inevitable, and it has been reported to range from 3.7–66.7% [16]. In a study directed by Abe, intraoperative complications occurred in 44.5% of the patients, while only 4.7% of postoperative complications occurred with OLIF [17]. The most common complication was endplate fracture followed by the transitory weakness of the psoas muscle and transient neurological symptoms. Zeng et al reported that the endplate damage, cage sedimentation and shifting were the three most common complications of OLIF [10]. In their study, the complication rate was 36.26% in the OLIF stand-alone group, which was much higher than that in OLIF combined with pedicle screw group (29.86%). Up to date, the pedicle screw instrumentation was commonly applied for stabilization after OLIF because they were considered to provide the most rigid fixation of spine [18]. However, the selection between unilateral pedicle screw (UPS) and bilateral pedicle screw (BPS) fixation still remain controversial in lumbar spine surgery. Wen et al compared the clinical and radiological outcomes between the BPS and UPS fixation group who underwent OLIF, they suggested that the OLIF combined with UPS fixation is an effective and reliable option for single-level lumbar diseases [19].
Obviously, posterior pedicle screw fixation decreases the incidence of sedimentation, but the increased cost, prolonged operation time, and greater damage to the posterior muscle tissue should be taken into consideration. Blizzard et al first reported the lateral position technique for percutaneous pedicle screw placement following LLIF or OLIF, however, the 2.8% rate of re-operation for malpositioned screws is slightly higher [20]. Lateral pedicle screw instrumentation after anterior lumbar interbody fusin (ALIF) or lateral lumbar interbody fusion (LLIF) has been previously reported to avoiding the disadvantages of posterior pedicle screw fixation [21–22]. In a retrospective study of 65 patients with lumbar DDD diseases, Xie et al reported that lateral pedicle screw fixiation combined with OLIF is a safe and effective surgical option that results in less operation time and less blood loss [23]. Liu et al combined OLIF with anterolateral screw and rod instrumentation to achieve good clinical result, and a fusion of approximately 95% was reported in their study [24]. Moreover, the combination of OLIF and lateral screw instrumentation was also reported as an effective and safe option for the treatment of degenerative spine deformity [25]. However, there are few report about the usage of lateral plate fixation system combined with OLIF. In the current study, the oblique lateral fixation system was used with OLIF procedure, it was a very convenient and safe method allowed for one-stage intervertebral fusion and instrumentation through a single small incision.
A major concern is that the lateral instrumentation may not be strong enough to maintain the spinal stability and prevent subsidence of the interbody cages. The biomechanical strength of the lateral plate fixation system should be considered. Compared with the stand-alone technique, lateral plate instrumentation significantly decreased the lateral bending and axial rotation ROM, although it did not alter the ROM in flexion-extension [26]. The cage combined with a lateral plate was not significantly different from that with bilateral pedicle screws in lateral bending. In another biomechanical study, the two-hole lateral plate and bilateral pedicle screw fixation both significantly limited ROM in all loading planes, and they were recommended when used in two-level lumbar fusion with laterally placed cages [27]. In a three dimensional finite element study, Liu et al suggested that the lateral plate and screws could not provide sufficient biomechanical stability for multilevel lateral interbody fusion [28]. However, in a cadaveric biomechanical study, Lai et al suggested that unilateral pedicle screw and lateral plate may provide sufficient biomechanical stability for multilevel LLIF [29]. In the present study, we only applied the lateral plate instrumentation in the patients with one-segmental degenerative disease of the lumbar spine. Moreover, the grade II or more serious lumbar spondylolisthesis patients were also excluded. No instrumentation failure occurred in our study.
The complication of lateral plate instrumentation is another concern. The vertebral body fractures in patients who received supplemental lateral plating or pedicle screw fixation during LLIF were reported [30–31]. The reason might be that a fracture propagates through the screw hole from the fixed-angle anterolateral plate, resulting in a coronal plane fracture especially in osteoporotic cases. The coronal plane vertebral fracture also occurred in osteoporotic patients who underwent XLIF combined with XLP lateral instrumentation, and the unilateral pedicle screw instrumentation does not prevent this complication [32]. Brier-Jones et al speculated that violation of the epiphyseal ring or subchondral bone by plate-anchoring screws may contribute to the coronal vertebral body fractures [33]. Kepler et al suggested that the unbalanced distribution of compressive stress is another important factor leading to vertebral fractures [30]. In the present study, there were no complications related to the lateral plate fixation system. Several factors may explained it. First, all the patients admitted were single-segmental lumbar degenerative disease; Second, the cages used for OLIF were much larger, which located in the II-III area of the vertebral body, and the stress distribution of the whole vertebral body was even. Third, the use of a spine brace was advised for the first three months after surgery. Similarly, in our another retrospective study, there was no any vertebral fracture or instrumentation failture case happened, and OLIF + LP technique can achieves good radiographic and clinical results [34]. However, Ge et al suggested that the additional lateral plate fixation does not appear to be more effective to prevent cage subsidence in the oblique lumbar interbody fusion, compared with stand-alone technique [35]. In their study, the follow-up period was only 6 months and was lack of OLIF + PS control group.
Limitations
The present study had some limitations. First, We performed a retrospective study with a small sample size, and the duration of follow-up was short. Second, only the patients who suffered single-segmental lumbar spine disease were included, whether this technique is suitable for patients with multi-segmental degenerative disease of the lumbar spine is unknown. Randomized control trials with large samples are needed to verify its pros and cons.