The Bagby and Kuslich Method of Lumbar Interbody Fusion

Abstract

Carefully selected middle-aged patients with chronic low back pain secondary to degenerative disc disease can be treated effectively and safely by skilled surgeons using the Bagby and Kuslich device for one- and two-level interbody fusion.

Comparison of instrumented anterior interbody fusion with instrumented circumferential lumbar fusion

“…The fusion rate in the ALIF group cannot be conclusively proven. Anterior interbody fusion rates vary between 19% and 96%, depending on the method of evaluation, fixation technique, and graft material [4,13,15,18,20,22,26,28,30,33,38,42,47,51]. However, radiological trabecular continuity is difficult to see with the titanium implant, making it difficult to assess how many patients with a satisfactory clinical outcome do not have a bony fusion.…”

“…Vamvanij et al [54] reported an 88% fusion and a 63% success rate with the Bagby and Kuslich (BAK) cage and posterior facet fusion. Kuslich et al [28] reported a 91% fusion rate, 84% pain relief and 91% functional improvement at 24 months' follow-up using the BAK method of lumbar interbody fusion. Other authors [1,2,3,10,16,50,52] have reported more than 70% satisfactory clinical results with instrumented interbody fusion.…”

Anterior lumbar interbody fusion with threaded fusion cages and autologous bone grafts

“…Stender et al reported good results in 76% of their patients with a cobalt-chrome molybdenum implant for anterior fusion; however, the subjectively reported results for return to work and pain reduction showed good results in only 68% [17]. The Bagby and Kuslich method [8] has a fusion rate of 98% when used in an anterior approach and 100% when used in a posterior approach.…”

Lumbar interbody fusion: a parametric investigation of a novel cage design with and without posterior instrumentation

“…The worst clinical results were obtained for multisegmental implantation, with fusion rates of 71% [24].…”

“…Cages were implanted initially stand-alone in combination with bone grafts [2], with generally satisfying clinical success [24] and high fusion rate, generally over 90% (reviewed in [3]). Although device failures were not reported, interbody cages may subside into the vertebral bodies (14% subsidence rate in a literature study [7]), thus loosing the intervertebral height restoration achieved postoperatively [35].…”