|  | Surgeries Operations | Surgeries

Axial LIF Back Surgery Information

Axial LIF, or Lumbar Inter-body Fusion, surgery is a procedure that fuses the lumbar of the back together. Axial LIF is less invasive than traditional fusion procedures and has a shorter recovery time--approximately three weeks rather than three months. Instead of traditional open surgery, Axial LIF uses small incisions and tiny surgical instruments to fuse and repair the damaged spinal disc.

  1. Benefits

    • Benifits of Axial LIF include less pain, shorter recovery time, less blood loss, and smaller scars. Less pain and shorter recovery time mean the patient can return to normal activity more quickly than with traditional spinal surgeries.

    Features

    • Axial LIF has been approved by the FDA since 2005; more than 5000 surgeries have been completed with a complication rate of less then one percent. The surgery takes 70 to 90 minutes to complete and can be done as an outpatient procedure.

    Effects

    • Axial LIF removes the diseased disc tissue and allows for a stabilizing rod to be placed, which in turn allows for the lumbar to be stabilized and returned to proper placement. The incision is about 1 centimeter wide. This smaller incision involves less muscle and nerve tissue than traditional fusion surgery. With fewer tissues involved, recovery time is dramatically decreased.

    Indications

    • Axial LIF is not used to treat scoliosis, severe trauma, or tumor. It is only to be used to provide anterior stabilization of the lumbar.

    Warning

    • The same dangers of traditional spinal fusion surgery are present in Axial LIF surgery. Those include reaction to anesthesia, breakage or loosening of implan, and delayed nerve and tissue damage. Infection, herniation and fracture at the site may be complications as well.

Surgeries - Related Articles