Posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF)

Last edited and medically reviewed by Alaric Steinmetz on 05.01.2025

PLIF (posterior lumbar interbody fusion) refers to the Stabilization of at least two Vertebral body via a posterior approach[^1].

Figure

LIFs — Illustration of the various LIF approaches. Figure adapted from Mobbs, Ralph J., et al. Lumbar interbody fusion: techniques, indications and comparison of interbody fusion options including PLIF, TLIF, MI-TLIF, OLIF/ATP, LLIF and ALIF. Journal of Spine Surgery 1.1 (2015): 2, under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license.

TLIF and PLIF: schematic illustration — Schematic comparison of the approaches used for PLIF and TLIF, adapted from Fleege et al.

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