Ureter position and risk of ureteral injury during lateral lumbar interbody fusion

Advances and Challenges in Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery

“…The lateral interbody fusion also relied heavily on indirect decompression through ligamentotaxis and foraminal expansion through disc height elevation, which at the time was an unproven concept [ 42 ]. Additionally, surgeons began experiencing previously unheard of or rare complications to spine surgery including ureter injury [ 43 ], bowel injury [ 44 ], pseudo-hernia [ 45 ], psoas hematoma [ 46 ], femoral nerve palsy [ 47 ], and aortic or inferior vena cava injuries [ 48 , 49 ]. These complications deterred many early adopters from continuing with this approach.…”