Operation indicators: Statistical analysis of the operation time, intraoperative fluoroscopy time, intraoperative blood loss, incision length, and perioperative complications of the two groups.
Functional evaluation indicator: The Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and Visual Analog Scale (VAS) scores of the two groups before surgery and 3, 12 months postoperation.
Sacrospinalis muscle damage evaluation indicator: Three months postoperation, patients in the two groups received electrophysiological examinations of sacrospinalis muscle at the surgical segment. The MEB9400-K electromyography instrument (Nihon Kohden, Japan) performed surface electromyography of sacrospinalis muscle at the surgical segment. The electromyography indicators of the sacrospinalis muscles, including the average discharge amplitude (AMP, μV) and average discharge frequency (Hz), were measured. In addition, a 3.0 T MRI (TR = 3000, Siemens, Germany) was used to performed continuous scanning of the sacrospinalis muscle at the surgical segment. A multifidus area of 1.5 cm × 1.5 cm at the level of the midline fusion device was symmetrically selected to measure the T2 relaxation time.[14 (link)]
Evaluation of fusion using radiological imaging: The Brantigan-Steffee fusion criteria evaluated the fusion conditions of patients in the two groups.[20 (link)]