Publication Type	Review
Authors	Wipplinger C, Melcher C, Hernandez R, Lener S, Navarro-Ramirez R, Kirnaz S, Schmidt F, Kim E, Härtl R
Journal	J Spine Surg
Volume	4
Issue	4
Pagination	780-786
Date Published	12/01/2018
ISSN	2414-469X
Abstract	Symptomatic lumbar spondylolisthesis is commonly accompanied by spinal stenosis in multiple segments. These pathologies are routinely treated by multilevel decompression and instrumented fusion. However, it was hypothesized that a minimally invasive surgery (MIS) fusion in the unstable segment combined with a unilateral laminotomy for bilateral decompression (ULBD) in the adjacent stenotic segment is a biomechanically feasible alternative to a two-level fusion and superior to open laminectomy adjacent to a fused segment. This concept has demonstrated success in a recently published biomechanical cadaver study performed by our group. The present article offers a detailed step by step technical description for an MIS-TLIF (transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion) with adjacent ULBD.
DOI	10.21037/jss.2018.10.01
PubMed ID	30714010
PubMed Central ID	PMC6330591