Comparison of MRI Visualization Following Minimally Invasive and Open TLIF: A Retrospective Single-Center Study

Vadim A Byvaltsev; Andrei A Kalinin; Morgan B Giers; Valerii V Shepelev; Yurii Ya Pestryakov; Mikhail Yu Biryuchkov

doi:10.3390/diagnostics11050906

Comparison of MRI Visualization Following Minimally Invasive and Open TLIF: A Retrospective Single-Center Study

Diagnostics (Basel). 2021 May 19;11(5):906. doi: 10.3390/diagnostics11050906.

Authors

Vadim A Byvaltsev^{1

2}, Andrei A Kalinin^{1

2}, Morgan B Giers³, Valerii V Shepelev¹, Yurii Ya Pestryakov¹, Mikhail Yu Biryuchkov⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurosurgery, Irkutsk State Medical University, 664003 Irkutsk, Russia.
² Department of Neurosurgery, Railway Clinical Hospital, 664005 Irkutsk, Russia.
³ School of Chemical, Biological, and Environmental Engineering, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA.
⁴ Department of Neurosurgery with the Course of Traumatology, West Kazakhstan Marat Ospanov Medical University, Aktobe 030012, Kazakhstan.

Abstract

Analysis of magnetic resonance image (MRI) quality after open (Op)-transforaminal interbody fusion (TLIF) and minimally invasive (MI)-TLIF with the implantation of structurally different systems has not previously been performed. The objective of this study was to conduct a comparative analysis of the postoperative MRI following MI and Op one-segment TLIF.

Material and methods: The nonrandomized retrospective single-center study included 80 patients (46 men and 24 women) aged 48 + 14.2 years. In group I (n = 20) Op-TLIF with open transpedicular screw fixation (TSF) was performed, in II group (n = 60), the MI-TLIF technique was used: IIa (n = 20)-rigid interspinous stabilizer; IIb (n = 20)-unilateral TSF and contralateral facet fixation; IIc (n = 20)-bilateral TSF.

Results: Comparison of the quality of postoperative imaging in IIa and IIb subgroups showed fewer MRI artifacts and a significantly greater MR deterioration after Op and MI TSF. Comparison of the multifidus muscle area showed less atrophy after MI-TLIF and significantly greater atrophy after Op-TLIF.

Conclusion: MI-TLIF and Op-TLIF with TSF have comparable postoperative MR artifacts at the operative level, with a greater degree of muscle atrophy using the Op-TLIF. Rigid interspinous implant and unilateral TSF with contralateral facet fixation have less artifacts and changes in the multifidus muscle area.

Keywords: artifacts; degenerative diseases; lumbar spine; magnetic resonance imaging; minimally invasive decompression and stabilization; open transpedicular fixation; postoperative imaging; transforaminal interbody fusion.