Cranial facet joint violations by percutaneously placed pedicle screws adjacent to a minimally invasive lumbar spinal fusion

Changes in the Adjacent Segment 10 Years After Anterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion for Low-Grade Isthmic Spondylolisthesis

“…Cranial inferior facet damage can potentially contribute to adjacent segment degeneration [27]. Percutaneous pedicle screws violate the cranial facet joint more often than traditional instrumented screws [28]. Our incidence of violation of the cranial facet joint was 49%.…”

Anterior stand-alone fusion revisited: a prospective clinical, X-ray and CT investigation

“…However, considerably higher X-ray exposure as well as significantly increased rates of adjacent level facet joint violations have been recorded, even for experienced MIS surgeons [3,[11][12][13]59]. Thus, future studies need to evaluate the effectiveness of these ''minimally invasive'' techniques as well as their mid-and long-term effect on adjacent level degenerative pathologies.…”

“…The majority of fusion procedures are performed via posterior approaches, with or without instrumentation, with or without additional interbody fusion techniques such as PLIF/TLIF or 360°fusions with additional anterior ALIF support [1,2]. However, a variety of negative side effects have been linked with the fusion of lumbar motion segments, including graft side morbidity, screw loosening, pseudarthrosis, sagittal imbalance, high rates of adjacent level pathologies, considerable complication and reoperation rates as well as mediocre clinical results [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19].…”

Mid- to long-term results of total lumbar disc replacement: a prospective analysis with 5- to 10-year follow-up

“…Fusion of lumbar motion segments performed for the treatment of intractable low back pain (LBP) from degenerative disc disease (DDD) without any deformities or instabilities are associated with a variety of negative side effects, including adjacent level pathologies, considerable complication and reoperation rates, symptomatic facet and sacroiliac joint complaints, cranial facet joint violations, adjacent segment stenosis, negatively altered sagittal alignment, pseudarthrosis, graft site morbidity, and others [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13].…”