Objectives: to evaluate the role of stand-alone anterior lumbar interbody fusion in patients with degenerative lumbar disc disease.
Subjects and methods: This study was conducted on 40 consecutive adult patients presenting with degenerative disc disease (DDD) of the lumbar spine and admitted to the Neurosurgery Department at Alexandria Main University Hospital. Their main complaint was back pain with or without mild sciatica. All patients were assessed using the VAS and ODI scales. The stand-alone ALIF cage was used anteriorly through a paramedian incision in the degenerative levels either single or double levels.
Results: Pain scores significantly decreased postoperatively compared to the preoperative state. The biomechanics of the spine and sagittal balance improved radiologically including lumbar lordosis, disc height and foraminal diameter.
Conclusions: The ALIF approach is a safe procedure for treatment of DDD of the lumbar spine. The stand-alone technique is enough for fusion in cases of just DDD in the form of black disc space.
Keywords: Stand-alone ALIF, sagittal balance improvement, disc height, foraminal diameter and pain scores, degenerative lumbar disc.
Funding: No funding was received for this research.
Conflict of Interest the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.
Ethical Approval All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Medicine in Alexandria University, Egypt.