ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Surg.
Sec. Orthopedic Surgery
This article is part of the Research TopicFrontiers in Spine Surgery: Techniques, Technology, and Translational ResearchView all 3 articles
Early experience with a rapid navigation system–assisted unilateral biportal endoscopic interbody fusion for lumbar spondylolisthesis
Provisionally accepted
- Department of Orthopaedics, First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
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Objective This study aims to investigate the efficacy of a simple and effective two-dimensional integrated navigation-guided spinal endoscopic interbody fusion surgery for the treatment of lumbar spondylolisthesis. Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data of patients with lumbar spondylolisthesis treated with or without navigation. Postoperative clinical data were collected, and pain levels were assessed using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS), while functional improvement was evaluated using the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI). At the final follow-up, X-ray imaging was used to measure disc height (DH), slip percentage (SP), lumbar lordosis (LL), and slip angle (SA) at the surgical segment. Interbody fusion status was assessed based on the Bridwell grading criteria. Results ULIF surgery for lumbar spondylolisthesis with navigation assistance yields favorable early outcomes, including reduced surgery duration, fewer fluoroscopy instances, lower intraoperative blood loss, and less postoperative drainage volume (P < 0.05). Patients in the navigation group also show greater early postoperative improvements in low back pain (P < 0.05). No significant differences were observed between the two groups in other evaluation indicators(P >0.05). Conclusion Compared with the non-navigation group, the ULIF procedure guided by the two-dimensional integrated navigation system—which is simple and effective—can provide better early relief of low back pain in patients with lumbar spondylolisthesis, while also shortening operative time, reducing the number of fluoroscopy instances, minimizing intraoperative blood loss, and decreasing postoperative drainage volume. This surgical approach demonstrates great potential for widespread clinical application.
Keywords: Intraoperative navigation, Lumbar interbody fusion, Lumbar spondylolisthesis, neurodecompression, Unilateral biportal endoscopic technique
Received: 06 Jan 2026; Accepted: 16 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Peng, Ren, Wang, Zhang, Qin, Yu, Zhu and Hao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yingjie Hao
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