Superior Facet Joint Violations in Single Level Minimally Invasive and Open Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion: A Comparative Study.

Study Design: Prospective comparative study.

Purpose: To compare the incidence of iatrogenic superior facet joint violation (SFV) in minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (MIS-TLIF) and open TLIF (OPEN-TLIF) at a single lower lumbar fusion level and to evaluate the patient and surgical factors influencing the outcome.

Overview Of Literature: Iatrogenic SFV is a significant risk factor for adjacent segment disease (ASD).