Posterior interbody fusion using laminectomy bone and transpedicular screw fixation in the treatment of lumbar spondylolisthesis.

Background: Laminectomy bone is used widely in posterolateral lumbar fusion, but not interbody fusion. No prospective evaluation of interbody fusion using bone grafts from the posterior neural arch in spondylolisthesis has been found in the literature. We prospectively studied series of patients operated on for lumbar spondylolisthesis to evaluate clinical improvement and bony fusion.

Methods: Forty-six patients were operated on for lumbar spondylolisthesis using a simplified one-stage posterior procedure. The whole mobile dorsal segment of the vertebral arch was taken out in one piece and the bone was used for interbody fusion. Fixation was performed with transpedicular screws and rods using transverse connectors.

Results: After an average follow-up time of 27.3 months, 87% of the patients could be considered to have an excellent or good clinical outcome. The rate of successful fusion was 95.7%. No noteworthy complications occurred.

Conclusion: Laminectomy bone seems to be optimal for posterior interbody fusion and together with transpedicular rigid fixation the long-term clinical and radiological results are convincingly good. The method is advisable even for severe spondylolisthesis.