Extreme Lateral Interbody Fusion, or XLIF

[gardenia]

I AM UNDER MY 3 MONTHS recovery phase and spending too much time in bed with occassional pains. Not sure that I would not go thru the surgery with someone who knows but I wonder how this other method compares.

I wish I had more info about the recovery period.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_Naa...s_digest-vrecs

Doctors and patients say XLIF is less painful than traditional open back surgery.

If heat pads, pain medication and chiropractic care aren't enough to cure your back pain, you may be a candidate for a revolutionary new surgery.

A new procedure called Extreme Lateral Interbody Fusion, or XLIF, is now being performed at Riverside Methodist Hospital.

[jrnyc]

ummmm....it is available thru a lot of surgeons...
do not know how "new" it really is...
i do believe that it has been available at least a few years...
speak to Dr Anand at Cedars Sinai for one...

jess

[Irina]

I am getting XLIF in addition to an anterior and posterior fusion. I think that in case of serious scoliosis, XLIF is not a substitute for an open surgery, but an addition that would allow a doctor to get a better correction. Dr. Hu said that if a good correction is important to me, she recommends XLIF in addition to A/P procedure becasue it would give me additional ~10* of correction. Without XLIF, she said, she can bring me down to about 35* and with XLIF, it'll be somewhere in twenties. XLIF would add a few more hours of surgical time, but I would be sleeping anyway and recovery time will be the same. I am not doing it for cosmetic reasons, but if I am going thru this ordeal, I want the best correction possbile and agreed to XLIF.

[JenniferG]

Gardenia, if it helps, many of us here find we have a big boost to our recovery between 3 and 4 months. I know I did. You're still very early out, you'll have a lot of improvement yet.

[LindaRacine]

XLIFs only very rarely can be used INSTEAD of other methods of fusion to correct scoliosis curves. The vast majority of times, XLIFs are used instead of ALIFs or TLIFs. And, while they are definitely minimally invasive, many patients complain of long-term thigh pain.

[titaniumed]

I get a kick out of the newscaster saying “revolutionary new” procedure when XLIF’s have been going on for some time now.....All these stories have to have that extra “wow” factor......after all, it is the news.

I have had 2 (non-spinal) laproscopic procedures and recovery time was VERY quick with hardly any pain which was amazing, but single level XLIF’s on non-scolis are a whole different program than scolis that have to have multiple levels done. My recovery on my scoli surgeries took a total of 2 years, not 2 days. Huge difference. There is no comparison.

I expected a long recovery and planned on it...(1 to 2 years) Its best to be prepared so you know what to expect, and accept and adapt one day at a time.

My recovery also came in steps....Improvement seemed to come around every 2 months or so...it wasn’t a gradual recovery...Gardinia, you are due for another step soon, don’t worry it will happen. 3 months is still early......

Ed