Adjacent segment degeneration and disease after lumbar fusion compared with motion-preserving procedures: a meta-analysis

Purpose The purpose of our study was to compare lumbar fusion and motion-preserving procedures to determine whether lumbar fusion may be associated with a higher prevalence of adjacent segment degeneration (ASDeg) or adjacent segment disease (ASDis). Methods We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis for articles published up to July 2013. We included randomized controlled trials and cohort studies that reported ASDeg or ASDis after lumbar fusion compared with motion-preserving devices. Two authors independently extracted the articles and the predefined data. Results A total of 13 studies with 1,270 patients met our inclusion criteria and were included in the final analysis. Our analysis showed that the prevalence of ASDeg and ASDis, and adjacent segment reoperation rate in the fusion group were higher than those in the motion-preserving devices group ( P