Minimally Invasive Techniques: Lateral Lumbar Interbody Fusion

During LLIF, our surgeon will work with areas closed to the nerves on your spinal column. We use electromyography to monitor your nerves, which is essential to prevent nerve damage. LLIF takes about an hour, and we perform it under general anesthesia, which means you will fall asleep during the procedure. The steps of LLIF are:

Step 1:
The surgeon will position you on your side after you get anesthesia. Then, he will use X-rays to locate the disc that is causing the problem. Next, he will mark your skin using a marker above the disc.

Step 2:
The surgeon will make a small incision towards your back and then place his finger through the incision to protect the peritoneum, which contains abdominal organs. The surgeon does this when the instruments pass through the lateral spine.

Step 3:
The surgeon makes a second incision on your side to pass the instruments to remove the disc. Tubular dilators are instruments used by the surgeon, which he inserts through the muscles on the side of the vertebrae. Never monitoring and X-rays safely guides the tools to reach the appropriate position and away from the nerves.

Step 4:
After the surgeon places the tubular dilators, he then puts a tissue retractor over them. The purpose into stretch the smaller incision and provide instrument access to the intervertebral disc space. The surgeon removes the disc when it completely visible.

Step 5:
The surgeon places an implant into empty disc space. The implant contains bone graft material for the fusion. An X-ray image facilitates the surgeon to ensure the correct placement of the implant. The surgeon then closes the small incisions with a few stitches after removing the retractor. Benefits of Lateral Lumbar Interbody Fusion in Frisco TX LLIF differs from traditional surgical procedures because the surgeons at the Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery of Texas access the space between the spinal discs from the side of the patient’s body. Instead of approaching the spine from the back or front, the surgeon reaches the spine from the side. Our surgeons do this to spare major back muscles, ligaments, and bones. Anyway, the benefits of LLIF include:

Less Surgery Time:
The surgeon completes LLIF surgery in one or two hours, which reduces the time you are in a surgical procedure under anesthesia.

Less Blood Loss:
Minimally invasive surgery results in reduced blood loss and less tissue disruption.

Less Pain:
Because our surgeon reaches the disc space from the side, LLIF does not disrupt sensitive bones, muscles, and ligaments in your back. You will walk the same day after the completion of the surgery.

Return to daily activities:
you can usually walk the day of surgery. However, the full recovery takes 2-3 months, depending on your condition. LLIF has a faster recovery time compared to traditional procedures, which has six months recovery period. If you have back pain and all conservative treatment options have been failed, you can contact MINSTX for the Lateral Lumbar Interbody Fusion in Frisco TX, which is an ideal back pain treatment.