The importance of proximal fusion level selection for outcomes of multi-level lumbar posterolateral fusion.

CONCLUSIONS: The overall outcome of multi-level lumbar or lumbosacral posterolateral fusion was not as high as we had hoped it would be. Whether the SIV was L2 or L3 was the only significant risk factor identified for poor outcomes in multi-level lumbar or lumbosacral posterolateral fusion in the current study. Thus, the authors recommend that proximal fusion levels be carefully determined when multi-level lumbar fusions are considered. PMID: 25729522 [PubMed - in process]
Source: Clinics in Orthopedic Surgery - Category: Orthopaedics Tags: Clin Orthop Surg Source Type: research