ANTERIOR FUSION OF THE LUMBAR SPINE - END-RESULT STUDY WITH LONG-TERM FOLLOW-UP

We reviewed the cases of 50 patients who underwent anterior lumbar-spine fusion with autogenous fibular and iliac-bone grafts and were followed for 2 to 15 years. The diagnoses were instability of the spine, degenerative disc disease, pseudarthritis, and spondylolisthesis. 56% had union and 44%, non-union. Those who had iliac grafts healed in an average of 2.5 years and those who had fibular grafts, in 5.2 years. The clinical result was successful in 26 patients (52%) and unsuccessful in twenty-four patients (48%). Paradoxically, about one-half of the patients with clinical successes had a non-union and one-half of the failures had union. Retrograde ejaculation (sterility) did not develop in any of the men, and a survey of world authorities on anterior spine fusion revealed only sixteen patients with the sequela of retrograde ejaculation. The incidence of this complication has been exaggerated.