@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