What Is Minimally Invasive Anterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion?
ALIF involves removing a disc through an incision in the front of the body in the abdomen.
The disc is replaced with a spacer that usually contains bone graft material and will fuse with the surrounding vertebra.
Depending on the case, screws, plates and rods can also be implanted for additional stability and support.
Mini ALIF is essentially the same type of spinal fusion procedure as anterior lumbar interbody fusion, but is performed through a smaller incision in the front of the body to remove a disc and replace it with a spacer that will fuse with surrounding vertebra to increase spinal stability.