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Has anyone had experiences with XLIF? Extreme Lateral Interbody Fusion
I have degenerative disc disease in L4 -L5. This is due to previous discectomy/laminectomy surgery. I have Bertollotis syndrome (probably not spelling this right) which has set me up for all my surgery and lumbar spine issues. Now I have spondylitis some stenosis and a mild degenerative L3 disc. I’ve done most of the conservative PT, acupuncture and massage I can do. I could try ablation or ReActiv8. Not sure if these will work, since I have multiple problems. I’ve been told, by my PT, that my muscles are strong and the ReActiv8 won’t help that much. I am very active, healthy and was strong. I taught fitness classes up until January of 2026 and then had to quit because of increasing back pain. I didn’t have this pain a year ago, or it was mild and didn’t last. I’m 53 and now being told by the surgeon that he would do XLIF on L3-L5. I’m really scared and I don’t believe this is the only option for L3. I’ve asked if we could preserve L3 with a prosthetic disc. He said it won’t work. I have another appointment to ask about Coflex. I’m concerned that if I get L3-5 fused it will be a rough recovery, no guarantees for pain elimination and I will need future surgery because discs above L3 will start to go. From my research and from other people’s experiences I’ve heard, it seems fusion is a gamble. These are only my experiences,
If anyone has any better information or experiences I would really appreciate it!
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Cira3, ask the right questions. Was told what good surgery would look like, not a failed surgery. Surgeon #2 said in a report he told me many times "there would be no pain relief", lol. Who in their right mind would have a surgery supposedly being told thst. In my experience surgery has destroyed my life. Trusted doctors. 2 failed cervical surgeries & 2ND followed by bleed & now no one will touch me. A leper I've become. Wildly uncontrolled pain. Cerviogenic hesdaches, left hand & arm toast from burnt feeling from nuclear burn. Pins & needles finder tip wrap around shoulders to right hand. Feel push down into neck, like I weigh 800 lbs. Arms & legs so heavy. Nearly parslyzed in pain spike since EMG 2 days ago. The doctor ran through everything that has been tried (or what Ive been turned down for (spinal implant, ablation) & he asked if I've considered MAIDS. Lying down not wanting to move to keep pain from imcreasing to scream level. Now afraid of this pain. Despair from no pain escape. Waiting to go to ER later for dilaudid shot (need to psyche self up). Waiting for Pallative pain intervention. Please be very careful. Gabapentin & lyrica provided wicked side effects. Make surgery your last resort. Wish you the very best!! Bless you. For me, I'm tired of existing in hell torture pain. Life is gone as I knew it because I signed the dotted line.
When you say L3 do you mean L3-L4?
Did they say what the reason for the fusion is for this joint?
@jlssurplus
What the surgeon said was the L3-L4 is mildly degenerated and the is slippage of L3 (spondylitis). The disc is still full sized and he says pain comes from stenosis. He said he would take the disc out and just fuse it. My concern is why not try to preserve what’s there with a Coflex device or prosthetic disc and some stabilization without full fusion. He immediately said no to prosthetic disc. I didn’t ask about Coflex yet. I didn’t like his dismissive nature. I looked at his bio and it appears he does a lot of fusion but nothing else. Looking for 2nd opinion
@agony Thank you for sharing your experience. My heart goes out to you. Constant pain is depressing and it feels hopeless. Don’t know if you are spiritual but I’ll pray to the spirt of the universe that it has a plan for you and you find some answers!
Same boat here. Foramonal Stenosis from adult degenerative scoliosis. both legs mostly right, pain that doesn't respond to any drugs, very little back pain.
Been through shots, PT & MILD procedure. Only thing left is L2-L5 fusion. Just gutting it out for now.
My wife has had 6 fusions so I've seen the good, bad & ugly. I trust surgeon who did her last 2 but neither he nor my 2nd opinion surgeon mentioned the XLIF because they don't do that type or surgery but are excellent surgeons.
I am going see a Dr who does the OLLIF basically the same to see if I am a canidate
I'm glad you are questioning the Doc's. My concern would be is the spondylitis bad enough to require stabilization by fusion and is that level actually causing your pain or is it from the next levels down.
Keep researching, one thing I know is you can't undo a fusion.
@cira3 Thankyou for the input. Believe in God & Jesus but do not feel them. Feel like I'm going to / in progress of snapping. Thank you for every prayer. Warm well wishes to you. Ox
@jlssurplus
Thank you for your response. You have a good point about the spondylitis, and is it unstable enough to require fusion. I’m trying to find a 2nd opinion on that issue and further question my current surgeon about it. My current surgeon said in his opinion it was too unstable for a prosthetic disc. I’m going to ask him about Coflex, my guess is he will say it’s too unstable. The XLIF only makes the surgery minimally invasive because they use robotics and can make small incisions from the side. The actual fusion procedure is the same as the traditional fusion. Bone graft, cage, screws etc. So if you trust your surgeon that’s great and you’re in good hands even if they don’t do XLIF. XLIF only makes initial recovery faster. You can leave the hospital the next day and walk. Other than that I don’t see much difference
@cira3
For me it would be much less risky because of my weight.
Also not cutting through everything from the back would have less chance of creating more nerve damage.
Faster recovery is a big thing for me as I am self employed, no employees and the only source of income. Everything I do at work is bad for my back
Unfortunately doing a full 3 level open fusion with the recovery time has the potential to bankrupt us and lose our house even if it goes well .
So now I live with the pain best I can.
@jlssurplus
I completely understand. For sure check out different minimally invasive options. I am worried about the recovery time as well. I’m a teacher and do a lot of bending. Even though the surgery is “minimally invasive” the recovery time is 3 months. They told me that was worse case scenario, but I’m not sure that is completely true since I’ve seen others with longer recovery. I’m worried this could eventually be a career ending surgery. Especially if fusion isn’t very successful.