Lumbar Spinal Fusion Using Lateral Oblique (Pre-psoas) Approach (Review)

Lumbar spinal fusion is one of the most common operations in spinal surgery. For its implementation, anterolateral (pre-psoas) approach (oblique lumbar interbody fusion, OLIF) is now increasingly used due to its high efficacy and safety. However, there is still little information on the clinical and radiological results of using this technique. The aim of the study was to analyze the safety and efficacy of OLIF in the treatment of lumbar spine disorders as presented in the literature. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The systematic electronic search was performed using the Ovid Medline, PubMed, and eLIBRARY.RU electronic databases. The following search key words were used: Oblique Lumbar Interbody Fusion, OLIF, Anterior to Psoas Lumbar Interbody Fusion, and ATP. RESULTS: For the final analysis, 17 sources were selected; with a total of 2900 patients. Total complication rate was 13.9% (403 cases). The incidence of severe persistent complications was less than 1%. Based on the data obtained, we compared the clinical and radiological results of OLIF with other lumbar fusion methods. CONCLUSION: OLIF is an effective, versatile, and minimally traumatic option for lumbar fusion with relatively few complications, which makes it superior to other retroperitoneal approaches. However, the OLIF technique is not completely free of complications associated with the ventral approach, and it cannot provide adequate decompression of the spinal canal in all cases. In addition, anterior approach surgery is still of limited use in cases of spinal deformities; adequate correction of deformity is achievable mainly in combination with posterior surgery.