Abstract
We reported 18 cases (12 men, 6 women, mean age 61.3 years) of degenerative spondylolisthesis that we treated by lumber posterior interbody fusion (PLIF). This procedure is associated with reduction of spondylolisthesis using reduction screw of Synergy spinal system. The mean follow-up period was 24.1 months (range from 4-41 months). The mean preoperative Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score improved from 10.5 points to 25.8 points at the last follow-up examination. Further more, mean slip decreased from preoperative rate of 17.1% to a postoperative one of 0.7%. Although the postoperative JOA score improved significantly to more than 26 points in 15 cases, it did not show satisfying results for three patients. However, these three cases showed additional spinal stenosis besides the spondylolisthesis. The results of our case studies suggest that PLIF for degenerative spondylolisthesis where no additional spinal stenosis is present can yield positive satisfactory results.
