• Hae-Dong Jang, Jae Chul Lee, Sung-Woo Choi, Chang-Hwa Hong, You-Sung Suh, and Byung-Joon Shin.
• Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Soonchunhyang University Bucheon Hospital, 170 Jomaru-ro, Bucheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, 14584, Republic of Korea.
• Eur Spine J. 2024 Jul 1; 33 (7): 261126202611-2620.

PurposeThe minimally invasive oblique lumbar interbody fusion (MI-OLIF) L5-S1 was introduced to overcome the limitations of conventional fusion techniques, however, MI-OLIF is not possible using the standard method due to vascular structures in some cases. We aimed to introduce the "lateral corridor" and report the details of the surgical technique with a clinical case series.MethodsWe utilized the lateral access route of the left common iliac vein and named it the "lateral corridor", to distinguish the technique from the standard technique (central corridor). The type and frequency of branch vessels that required additional manipulations were reviewed, and the frequency of intraoperative vascular injury was investigated.ResultsAmong the 107 patients who underwent MI-OLIF L5-S1, 26 patients (24.3%) who received the "lateral corridor" technique were included. Branch vessel ligation was required in 42.3% of the patients. The types of branch vessels that required ligation were seven cases (26.9%) of the iliolumbar vein (ILV) and six cases (23.1%) of ascending lumbar vein (ALV). The ILV and ALV were ligated in two cases. None of the patients developed intraoperative vascular injuries.ConclusionWe introduced the "lateral corridor" as an alternative approach for MI-OLIF L5-S1, implemented it in 24.3% of the patient cohort, and reported favorable outcomes devoid of vascular complications. The "lateral corridor" necessitated ligation of the ILV or ALV in 42.3% of cases. The "lateral corridor" approach appears to be a promising surgical technique, offering feasibility even in instances where the vascular anatomy precludes the employment of the conventional approach.© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.

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