Researchers conducted comparison research. For a study, the researchers sought to find how age affected perioperative and postoperative complication rates, reoperation rates, and patient-reported pain and disability scores following lateral lumbar interbody fusion (LLIF). Patients who underwent LLIF at 1 institution from 2009 to 2019 and had a minimum 6-month follow-up were reviewed retrospectively. Patients under 18 who had a musculoskeletal malignancy or had been injured were eliminated. The primary outcome was the Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS) change for back pain from preoperative to postoperative. The duration of stay, perioperative and 90-day complications, unplanned readmissions, reoperations, and change in the Oswestry Disability Index were all assessed. Relationships with age were evaluated using age as a continuous variable and segmenting by age under 70 versus 70+. A total of 279 patients were involved in the study. The median age was somewhere between 65 and 13 years, and 159 (57%) of the participants were female. Improvements in the back NPRS and Oswestry Disability Index were not associated with age. Age had no bearing on surgical duration, predicted blood loss, length of stay, perioperative and 90-day problems, unplanned readmissions, reoperations, or radiographic fusion rate. Increasing age was linked to larger improvements in back NPRS after multivariable risk adjustment. Every 10-year increase in age resulted in a 0.68 (95% CI: 0.14, 1.22; P=0.014) point decrease in back NPRS. Complications, readmission, and reoperation rates were not related to age. In the senior population, LLIF was a safe and successful technique. Preoperative back discomfort was connected with larger improvements as people get older. When evaluating elderly candidates for lumbar fusion, surgeons should evaluate the benefits of LLIF and other minimally invasive methods.
