NuVasive Marks 20-Year Milestone of XLIF Procedure

NuVasive Inc. is commemorating the 20-year milestone of its lateral lumbar procedure, extreme lateral interbody fusion (XLIF).
 
“Twenty years ago, we set out to make spine surgery more reproducible and improve patient outcomes through the development and introduction of the XLIF procedure,” NuVasive Chief Technology Officer Ryan Donahoe said. “Through our leadership in outcome-driven design, partnership with the best spine clinicians around the globe, and a continued focus on clinical education and validation, we have learned that it is foundational to approach innovation across the full continuum of spine care.”

With roughly 300,000 procedures performed, more than 200 educational courses hosted, over 500 peer-reviewed publications and 60-plus products launched, XLIF demonstrates superior and more predictable outcomes than traditional spinal fusion procedures.^1-4 Specifically designed to treat pathologies effectively and reproducibly at levels L4-L5 and above, XLIF has been proven to reduce operative time, incision size, blood loss during surgery, length of hospital stay, postoperative pain, and postoperative recovery time.^1-4
 
“It’s been quite a journey since I started working with NuVasive in 2001, being attracted to the vision of making spine surgery better. In collaboration with a handful of my peers and the NuVasive team, creating the XLIF procedure was a decision that stemmed from us realizing that the outcomes we were seeing weren’t good enough,” said Dr. Frank Phillips, director of Rush University Medical Center’s spine surgery division. “This innovation is an incredible example of how thoughtful procedural design and reliable, reproducible clinical results can improve the overall care experience.”
 
“Over the years, I’ve seen XLIF take over the lateral market, making less-invasive spine surgery more reproducible,” said Dr. Paul Holman, chief of spinal neurosurgery at Houston Methodist. “When paired with the enabling technologies within Pulse, XLIF unlocks even more clinical value for both the surgeon and the patient.”
 
Building on the legacy of XLIF, NuVasive—which is merging with Globus Medical—has since launched its X360, P360, C360 and Complex procedural portfolios. The next phase of NuVasive’s innovation is intelligent surgery. 
 
“The concept of intelligent surgery will take what we know of XLIF and more recently with X360, to greater heights,” said Alex Thomas, neurosurgeon at Atlantic Brain and Spine. “I’m excited to see how we can leverage the power of data to make better decisions preoperatively and intraoperatively, and then track our outcomes more intelligently, postoperatively.”
 
Earlier this spring, NuVasive and Globus Medical shareholders approved the two companies’ $3.1 billion merger. Globus shareholders will own roughly 75% of the newly-combined company when the transaction is finalized. 

References
¹ Sembrano JN, Tohmeh A, Isaacs R, et al. Two-year comparative outcomes of MIS lateral and MIS transforaminal interbody fusion in the treatment of degenerative spondylolisthesis: part I: clinical findings. Spine 2016;41(Suppl 8):S123-32.
² Lehmen JA, Gerber EJ. MIS lateral spine surgery: A systematic literature review of complications, outcomes, and economics. Eur Spine J 2015;24(Suppl 3):287-313.
³ Rihn JA, Patel R, Makda J, et al. Complications associated with single-level transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion. Spine J2009;9(8):623-9.
⁴ Lucio JC, VanConia RB, Deluzio KJ, et al. Economics of less invasive spinal surgery: an analysis of hospital cost differences between open and minimally invasive instrumented spinal fusion procedures during the perioperative period. Risk Management and Healthcare Policy 2012;5:65-74.