SURGICAL TECHNIQUE AND CLINICAL BENEFITS IN FULL-ENDOSCOPIC TRANS-KAMBIN TRIANGLE LUMBAR INTERBODY FUSION (KLIF): A REVIEW

Abstract

Full-endoscopic surgery started as discectomy via the transforaminal route toward the end of the 20th century. The interlaminar route was subsequently used for herniated nucleus pulposus at the L5/S1 level in patients with an anatomically high iliac crest. Thus, two full-endoscopic approaches are described in the literature. Furthermore, the surgical indications have expanded from discectomy to decompression and, most recently, to interbody fusion. The term used to describe interbody fusion surgery performed via the transforaminal route using a facet-preserving technique is trans-Kambin fusion (KLIF) and that used to describe such surgery when performed after facetectomy using the interlaminar technique is transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF). Therefore, we have agreed the nomenclature of full-endoscopic facet-preserving KLIF and full-endoscopic facet-sacrificing TLIF. We have been performing full-endoscopic KLIF surgery since 2018. This review describes the surgical technique used for full-endoscopic KLIF, its clinical outcomes, and how it differs from full-endoscopic TLIF.